Royal Bank of Canada Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) Stock

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP - Get Free Report) had its price target lifted by analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $220.00 to $221.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "outperform" rating on the pipeline company's stock. Royal Bank of Canada's price objective indicates a potential upside of 18.39% from the stock's previous close.

TRGP has been the subject of several other research reports. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $208.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $218.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $190.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, US Capital Advisors downgraded shares of Targa Resources from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Targa Resources presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $207.00.

Targa Resources Trading Down 1.8 %

TRGP traded down $3.34 on Monday, reaching $186.67. 2,375,761 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,635,470. Targa Resources has a one year low of $103.04 and a one year high of $218.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05. The company has a market cap of $40.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 2.29. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $198.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $179.41.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The pipeline company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.90 by ($0.46). Targa Resources had a net margin of 7.81% and a return on equity of 28.67%. The business had revenue of $4.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.48 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Targa Resources will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jennifer R. Kneale sold 29,887 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.42, for a total value of $5,750,856.54. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 227,269 shares of the company's stock, valued at $43,731,100.98. This represents a 11.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Matthew J. Meloy sold 48,837 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.08, for a total transaction of $9,527,121.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 725,628 shares in the company, valued at $141,555,510.24. This trade represents a 6.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 115,914 shares of company stock valued at $22,613,288 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.39% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Targa Resources

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in TRGP. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Targa Resources in the 4th quarter valued at $505,132,000. GQG Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Targa Resources in the 4th quarter valued at $393,335,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 981.8% in the 4th quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,144,109 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $204,223,000 after purchasing an additional 1,038,350 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Targa Resources in the 4th quarter valued at $150,372,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 568.7% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 970,373 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $173,212,000 after purchasing an additional 825,267 shares during the period. 92.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.