Encore Global Management LP Takes Position in Targa Resources, Inc. $TRGP

Encore Global Management LP bought a new position in Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,000 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $501,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of TRGP. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in Targa Resources by 57.0% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 34,805 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $6,421,000 after buying an additional 12,640 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 820,310 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $151,331,000 after acquiring an additional 53,413 shares during the last quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY raised its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 37.3% in the first quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 230,592 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $57,816,000 after acquiring an additional 62,652 shares during the last quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG boosted its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 164.1% in the 4th quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG now owns 33,641 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $6,245,000 after acquiring an additional 20,905 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Banque Pictet & Cie SA bought a new stake in Targa Resources during the 4th quarter worth approximately $22,919,000. Institutional investors own 92.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Targa Resources news, Director Charles R. Crisp sold 10,602 shares of Targa Resources 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,019,292.32. The trade was a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.37% of the company’s stock.

Targa Resources Stock Performance

TRGP stock opened at $262.01 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $269.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $243.64. Targa Resources, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.14 and a fifty-two week high of $291.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.64, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.24 billion, a PE ratio of 26.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.71.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The pipeline company reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.48 by ($0.27). Targa Resources had a return on equity of 71.00% and a net margin of 12.87%.The business had revenue of $4.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.68 billion. Analysts forecast that Targa Resources, Inc. will post 10.77 EPS for the current year.

Targa Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on TRGP shares. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $318.00 price objective on shares of Targa Resources in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $268.00 target price on Targa Resources in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Targa Resources from $249.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Barclays lifted their price target on Targa Resources from $270.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Targa Resources in a report on Monday, May 4th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $288.00.

Targa Resources Profile

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.