Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) Shares Cross Above Fifty Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Shares of Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP) passed above its fifty day moving average during trading on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $288.65 and traded as high as $291.93. Targa Resources shares last traded at $291.3570, with a volume of 987,241 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on TRGP shares. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $325.00 to $338.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Targa Resources from $315.00 to $351.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Targa Resources from $326.00 to $311.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Targa Resources from $359.00 to $362.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Capital One Financial raised their price objective on Targa Resources from $310.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and twenty have issued a Buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Targa Resources currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $326.37.

Targa Resources Price Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $288.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $263.74. The company has a market cap of $63.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.87.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.74 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $5.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.77 billion. Targa Resources had a net margin of 13.45% and a return on equity of 68.83%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Targa Resources, Inc. will post 11.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Targa Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 17th. Investors of record on Friday, October 30th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 30th. Targa Resources’s payout ratio is currently 44.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Targa Resources

In other Targa Resources news, Director S Davis sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $299.67, for a total transaction of $719,208.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,529 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $458,195.43. This trade represents a 61.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Paul Chung sold 1,816 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.11, for a total value of $537,735.76. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 44,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,028,840. This represents a 3.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 7,216 shares of company stock worth $2,127,634 over the last quarter. 1.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Targa Resources

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in Targa Resources by 9.4% during the third quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 8,648 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,338,000 after purchasing an additional 740 shares during the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 7.6% during the third quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 196,734 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $53,179,000 after purchasing an additional 13,919 shares during the period. Pinnbrook Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Targa Resources in the 3rd quarter worth about $19,084,000. Essex Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Targa Resources by 51.2% in the 3rd quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,314 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $355,000 after buying an additional 445 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of Targa Resources by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 48,500 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $13,110,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 92.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Targa Resources

Targa Resources Corp. is a midstream energy company that gathers, processes, transports and stores natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs), and provides services for crude oil. Its infrastructure connects oil and gas producers with pipelines, processing facilities, fractionators, storage sites and domestic and international markets. The company’s services include natural gas gathering, compression and processing; NGL transportation and fractionation; and crude oil gathering and terminaling. Targa also operates facilities that support the export of NGLs and liquefied petroleum gas products.