Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) Price Target Raised to $163.00 at The Goldman Sachs Group

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) had its price objective upped by The Goldman Sachs Group from $147.00 to $163.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a buy rating on the pipeline company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on TRGP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Targa Resources from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Scotiabank increased their target price on Targa Resources from $128.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a sector outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Targa Resources from $124.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Argus raised Targa Resources to a strong-buy rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Targa Resources from $147.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Buy and an average price target of $141.77.

Targa Resources Price Performance

TRGP stock opened at $152.83 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.65. Targa Resources has a 1 year low of $77.97 and a 1 year high of $154.87. The firm has a market cap of $33.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 2.26. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $141.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $125.44.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The pipeline company reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.12. Targa Resources had a return on equity of 23.98% and a net margin of 6.60%. The firm had revenue of $3.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.44 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Targa Resources will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Targa Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st were issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Gerald R. Shrader sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.06, for a total value of $408,180.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 29,603 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,027,784.18. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Targa Resources news, insider Gerald R. Shrader sold 3,000 shares of Targa Resources stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.06, for a total transaction of $408,180.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 29,603 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,027,784.18. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Julie H. Boushka sold 1,213 shares of Targa Resources stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.02, for a total value of $160,140.26. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 52,257 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,898,969.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 35,534 shares of company stock valued at $4,788,590. Insiders own 1.39% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Targa Resources

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TRGP. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in Targa Resources by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 64,245 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $5,557,000 after acquiring an additional 645 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Targa Resources by 35.4% during the 4th quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 4,896 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $425,000 after purchasing an additional 1,280 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its position in shares of Targa Resources by 20.2% during the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 4,066 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $353,000 after purchasing an additional 684 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Targa Resources during the 4th quarter valued at $187,123,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Targa Resources by 13.6% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 17,405 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,512,000 after purchasing an additional 2,090 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.13% of the company’s stock.

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.