Wells Fargo & Company Issues Positive Forecast for Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) Stock Price

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) had its price target upped by Wells Fargo & Company from $248.00 to $264.00 in a research note published on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the pipeline company’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on TRGP. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $242.00 target price on shares of Targa Resources in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Citigroup increased their price target on Targa Resources from $200.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Targa Resources in a report on Friday, January 9th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $266.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $218.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $241.93.

Targa Resources Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:TRGP opened at $240.24 on Friday. Targa Resources has a 52-week low of $144.14 and a 52-week high of $250.00. 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 has a market capitalization of $51.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $210.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $183.04.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The pipeline company reported $2.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.35 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $4.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. Targa Resources had a return on equity of 65.48% and a net margin of 10.88%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Targa Resources will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Targa Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 30th. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Lindsey Cooksen sold 435 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.72, for a total value of $100,798.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 11,670 shares in the company, valued at $2,704,172.40. The trade was a 3.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Robert Muraro sold 24,589 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.34, for a total value of $5,934,309.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 197,401 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,640,757.34. This represents a 11.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 104,929 shares of company stock worth $24,692,134 over the last three months. 1.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Targa Resources

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of TRGP. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Targa Resources in the 2nd quarter worth about $708,366,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Targa Resources by 9.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,620,253 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 48.5% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,290,099 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $607,023,000 after purchasing an additional 1,075,246 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Targa Resources during the third quarter worth approximately $121,426,000. Finally, Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 572,562 shares in the last quarter. 92.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.