Norges Bank Makes New Investment in Targa Resources, Inc. $TRGP

Norges Bank bought a new position in Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 3,987,850 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $735,758,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Targa Resources by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,382,289 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $4,755,169,000 after buying an additional 422,075 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Targa Resources by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 19,643,139 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,291,012,000 after buying an additional 1,620,253 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Targa Resources by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,867,345 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,078,497,000 after buying an additional 45,495 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG lifted its position in Targa Resources by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,360,311 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $395,447,000 after buying an additional 212,887 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Targa Resources by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,175,544 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $364,491,000 after buying an additional 84,757 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Targa Resources

In related news, Director Charles R. Crisp sold 10,602 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 66,492 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,019,292.32. This trade represents a 13.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Patrick J. Mcdonie sold 31,537 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $239.36, for a total transaction of $7,548,696.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 305,163 shares in the company, valued at $73,043,815.68. The trade was a 9.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 66,728 shares of company stock worth $16,196,694. 1.37% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Targa Resources Stock Performance

NYSE:TRGP opened at $255.14 on Friday. Targa Resources, Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.14 and a 1 year high of $280.00. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $251.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $216.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.76 billion, a PE ratio of 25.80, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.75.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The pipeline company reported $2.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.48 by ($0.27). Targa Resources had a net margin of 12.87% and a return on equity of 71.00%. The firm had revenue of $4.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.68 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Targa Resources, Inc. will post 10.67 EPS for the current year.

Targa Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th were paid a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. This is a boost from Targa Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.56%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on TRGP shares. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $249.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $236.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $228.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $255.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Targa Resources in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $269.21.

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.