Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) Sets New 52-Week High After Analyst Upgrade

Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP - Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week high on Monday after Truist Financial raised their price target on the stock from $175.00 to $225.00. Truist Financial currently has a buy rating on the stock. Targa Resources traded as high as $197.90 and last traded at $197.90, with a volume of 1106 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $196.04.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on TRGP. Argus raised shares of Targa Resources to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $172.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Targa Resources from $155.00 to $171.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Targa Resources from $153.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Targa Resources from $182.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Targa Resources has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $169.79.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Robert Muraro sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.20, for a total value of $365,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 174,451 shares in the company, valued at $25,504,736.20. This represents a 1.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Joe Bob Perkins sold 150,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.53, for a total value of $23,329,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 110,470 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,181,399.10. The trade was a 57.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 185,760 shares of company stock valued at $30,026,712. 1.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Targa Resources

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Targa Resources by 0.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,015,992 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $3,025,521,000 after acquiring an additional 201,817 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LP acquired a new position in shares of Targa Resources in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,323,000. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in Targa Resources by 215.2% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 31,052 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $3,478,000 after acquiring an additional 21,200 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in Targa Resources by 6.5% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 444,530 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $49,783,000 after buying an additional 27,164 shares during the period. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Targa Resources during the first quarter worth $1,151,000. 92.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Targa Resources Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $43.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.45, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 2.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.77. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $163.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $141.15.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $3.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 firm posted $0.97 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Targa Resources Corp. will post 6.23 EPS for the current year.

Targa Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.51%. Targa Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.25%.

About Targa Resources

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.