Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) Sets New 52-Week High After Dividend Announcement

Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) hit a new 52-week high on Thursday after the company announced a dividend. The stock traded as high as $210.00 and last traded at $208.33, with a volume of 108708 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $205.50.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on TRGP shares. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Targa Resources in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $182.00 price target on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on Targa Resources from $171.00 to $204.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Targa Resources from $185.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. US Capital Advisors cut shares of Targa Resources from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $190.00 to $204.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $189.21.

Targa Resources Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $191.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $163.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.10 billion, a PE ratio of 39.06, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 2.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.61.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $3.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.24 billion. Targa Resources had a net margin of 7.65% and a return on equity of 27.59%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.97 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Targa Resources Corp. will post 6.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Targa Resources

In other Targa Resources news, CAO Julie H. Boushka sold 3,260 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.74, for a total transaction of $621,812.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 35,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,703,175.82. This trade represents a 8.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider D. Scott Pryor sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.33, for a total value of $5,709,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 82,979 shares in the company, valued at $15,793,393.07. This represents a 26.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TRGP. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,106,591 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,235,927,000 after buying an additional 633,589 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Targa Resources by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,717,487 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $843,680,000 after purchasing an additional 97,583 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Targa Resources by 1.1% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,331,503 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $197,076,000 after purchasing an additional 14,287 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Targa Resources by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,257,613 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $186,139,000 after purchasing an additional 96,268 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 19.5% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,034,545 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $153,124,000 after purchasing an additional 168,602 shares in the last quarter. 92.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Targa Resources Company Profile

Targa Resources Corp., together with its subsidiary, Targa Resources Partners LP, owns, operates, acquires, and develops a portfolio of complementary domestic midstream infrastructure assets in North America. It operates in two segments, Gathering and Processing, and Logistics and Transportation. The company is involved in gathering, compressing, treating, processing, transporting, and selling natural gas; storing, fractionating, treating, transporting, and selling natural gas liquids (NGL) and NGL products, including services to liquefied petroleum gas exporters; and gathering, storing, terminaling, purchasing, and selling crude oil.