Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) Price Target Raised to $282.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) had its price objective hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $270.00 to $282.00 in a research note released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the pipeline company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Targa Resources in a research report on Friday. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $282.00 to $284.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group set a $324.00 price target on Targa Resources in a research note on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Targa Resources from $242.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $268.00 price objective on Targa Resources in a research note on Friday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Targa Resources has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $295.24.

Targa Resources Trading Down 4.1%

Shares of TRGP stock opened at $257.25 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $268.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $247.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.22 billion, a PE ratio of 24.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.64, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.62. Targa Resources has a 1-year low of $144.14 and a 1-year high of $291.04.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The pipeline company reported $3.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.83 by $0.71. Targa Resources had a net margin of 13.55% and a return on equity of 73.14%. The company had revenue of $4.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.90 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Targa Resources will post 10.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Targa Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Friday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 31st. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.56%.

Insider Transactions at Targa Resources

In related news, Director Charles R. Crisp sold 10,602 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $2,713,687.92. Following the sale, the director owned 66,492 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,019,292.32. This trade represents a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.37% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in shares of Targa Resources by 1.4% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 20,832,687 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $5,586,077,000 after purchasing an additional 291,114 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,668,233 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,337,289,000 after acquiring an additional 162,878 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Targa Resources by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,867,345 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,078,497,000 after acquiring an additional 45,495 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Targa Resources in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $735,758,000. Finally, Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. grew its holdings in Targa Resources by 20.3% in the fourth quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 3,389,006 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $625,272,000 after purchasing an additional 572,562 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.13% of the company’s stock.

Key Targa Resources News

Here are the key news stories impacting Targa Resources this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strong Q2 earnings and guidance: Targa reported adjusted EBITDA of $1.603 billion, up 38% year over year, while EPS of $3.54 exceeded the $2.83 consensus estimate. Management now expects full-year adjusted EBITDA toward the high end of its $5.7 billion–$5.9 billion range. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Volume growth and project execution: Record Permian inlet volumes, NGL transportation, fractionation and LPG exports supported results. Targa also brought its Train 11 fractionator, Delaware Express expansion and East Driver processing plant online, with East Driver starting ahead of schedule.
• Positive Sentiment: Shareholder returns and analyst support: Targa raised its quarterly dividend 25% to $1.25 per share and repurchased $80 million of stock. Wells Fargo raised its price target to $282 and assigned an “overweight” rating; TD Cowen lifted its target to $275, although it maintained a “hold” rating. Benzinga article
• Neutral Sentiment: Revenue performance was mixed: Quarterly revenue rose 4% to $4.44 billion but fell short of the $4.90 billion analyst forecast. Lower natural-gas prices and unfavorable hedge impacts limited commodity-sales growth, while higher fee-based midstream revenue helped offset the weakness.
• Negative Sentiment: Commodity and balance-sheet risks remain: Negative Waha natural-gas prices in the Permian, higher operating and depreciation expenses, approximately $19.6 billion of debt and planned 2026 growth capital spending of about $4.5 billion may concern investors. The stock’s recent decline suggests the strong earnings beat and guidance raise were not enough to overcome those concerns.

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.