Vestcor Inc Grows Position in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP)

Vestcor Inc raised its position in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) by 64.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,513 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,106 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Targa Resources were worth $1,877,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TRGP. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Targa Resources during the 4th quarter worth $150,372,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Targa Resources by 4.4% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its holdings in Targa Resources by 20.9% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,841,175 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $353,469,000 after buying an additional 318,261 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in shares of Targa Resources by 75.4% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 604,112 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $89,413,000 after acquiring an additional 259,776 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 40.0% in the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 890,514 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $158,957,000 after acquiring an additional 254,286 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.13% of the company’s stock.

Targa Resources Trading Up 4.0 %

Shares of TRGP stock opened at $190.13 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $41.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 2.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05. The business’s 50 day moving average is $199.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $181.09. Targa Resources Corp. has a twelve month low of $104.89 and a twelve month high of $218.51.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The pipeline company reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by ($0.46). The firm had revenue of $4.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.48 billion. Targa Resources had a net margin of 7.81% and a return on equity of 28.67%. Equities analysts forecast that Targa Resources Corp. will post 8.15 EPS for the current year.

Targa Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.26%.

Insider Activity at Targa Resources

In other news, Director Waters S. Iv Davis sold 2,190 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.26, for a total transaction of $429,809.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,899 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $568,957.74. This represents a 43.03 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider D. Scott Pryor sold 35,000 shares of Targa Resources stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.30, for a total value of $6,905,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 82,139 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,206,024.70. This trade represents a 29.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 115,914 shares of company stock worth $22,613,288 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on TRGP shares. Scotiabank decreased their target price on Targa Resources from $218.00 to $210.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $220.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. 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. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $182.00 to $246.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Targa Resources from $190.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. 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 a consensus price target of $206.43.

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.