Korea Investment CORP Grows Stock Holdings in Targa Resources, Inc. $TRGP

Korea Investment CORP boosted its stake in shares of Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP) by 37.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 260,760 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 70,998 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP owned about 0.12% of Targa Resources worth $43,688,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. grew its position in Targa Resources by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 5,046 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $845,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. State of Wyoming raised its stake in Targa Resources by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 2,076 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $361,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 2,849 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $477,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. ICONIQ Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter. ICONIQ Capital LLC now owns 1,437 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $250,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 10.9% in the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 805 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $140,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on TRGP. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Targa Resources from $218.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $242.00 target price on shares of Targa Resources in a report on Friday, February 20th. Weiss Ratings raised Targa Resources from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Targa Resources from $213.00 to $243.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $266.00 to $298.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Targa Resources has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $240.79.

Targa Resources Price Performance

TRGP stock opened at $237.30 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.21, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.67. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $205.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $180.72. Targa Resources, Inc. has a one year low of $144.14 and a one year high of $250.00. The company has a market capitalization of $51.01 billion, a PE ratio of 27.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.84.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The pipeline company reported $2.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.35 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $4.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. Targa Resources had a net margin of 10.88% and a return on equity of 65.48%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Targa Resources, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Targa Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 30th were issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 30th. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Targa Resources

In other Targa Resources news, Director Charles R. Crisp sold 1,359 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.30, for a total transaction of $311,618.70. Following the transaction, the director owned 77,094 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,677,654.20. This trade represents a 1.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Patrick J. Mcdonie sold 31,537 shares of Targa Resources stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 305,163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $73,043,815.68. The trade was a 9.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 104,929 shares of company stock worth $24,692,134. Insiders own 1.34% of the company’s stock.

Targa Resources Company 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.