Aventail Capital Group LP Trims Stake in Targa Resources, Inc. $TRGP

Aventail Capital Group LP lowered its stake in shares of Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP) by 77.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 45,451 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 155,627 shares during the period. Aventail Capital Group LP’s holdings in Targa Resources were worth $8,386,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Olistico Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Targa Resources during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new position in shares of Targa Resources during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Miller Capital Partners Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Targa Resources during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Leonteq Securities AG purchased a new position in shares of Targa Resources during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Godfrey Financial Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Targa Resources during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $281.00 price target on shares of Targa Resources in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $228.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $242.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $241.00 price target on shares of Targa Resources in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $269.21.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Charles R. Crisp sold 10,602 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.96, for a total value of $2,713,687.92. Following the transaction, the director owned 66,492 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,019,292.32. This represents a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.37% of the company’s stock.

Targa Resources Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE TRGP opened at $260.71 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $256.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $225.11. The company has a market cap of $55.96 billion, a PE ratio of 26.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.72. Targa Resources, Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.14 and a 52-week high of $280.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.64, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.72.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The pipeline company reported $2.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.48 by ($0.27). The firm had revenue of $4.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.68 billion. Targa Resources had a return on equity of 71.00% and a net margin of 12.87%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Targa Resources, Inc. will post 10.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Targa Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were paid a $1.25 dividend. This is a boost from Targa Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. Targa Resources’s payout ratio is currently 50.56%.

About Targa Resources

Targa Resources Corporation (NYSE: TRGP) is a U.S.-focused midstream energy company that provides gathering, processing, transportation, storage and marketing services for natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and condensate. Its operations span the midstream value chain, including gas gathering systems that collect production from wells, processing plants that separate and recover NGLs and other hydrocarbons, fractionation and purification facilities that prepare NGLs for market, and pipeline and terminal assets that move and store products for producers, refiners and other customers.

The company operates a network of pipelines, processing plants, fractionators and storage facilities that serve producers and consumers across major U.S.