Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Decreases Holdings in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP)

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. lowered its stake in shares of Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) by 17.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,700 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 350 shares during the period. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s holdings in Targa Resources were worth $303,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of TRGP. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new position in shares of Targa Resources during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Targa Resources by 394.6% during the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 183 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Targa Resources in the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Aspect Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Targa Resources by 144.4% in the 4th quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 220 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its stake in Targa Resources by 49.4% during the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 269 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.13% of the company’s stock.

Targa Resources Price Performance

Shares of TRGP opened at $197.25 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $199.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $183.11. 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 Corp. has a 1-year low of $110.09 and a 1-year high of $218.51. The stock has a market cap of $43.02 billion, a PE ratio of 34.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 2.32.

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

Targa Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.26%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $185.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup increased their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Targa Resources from $220.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Targa Resources from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, US Capital Advisors lowered Targa Resources from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Targa Resources has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $211.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jennifer R. Kneale sold 29,887 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.42, for a total transaction of $5,750,856.54. Following the sale, the insider now owns 227,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,731,100.98. This represents a 11.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider D. Scott Pryor sold 35,000 shares of Targa Resources stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 82,139 shares of the company’s stock, 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 have sold 115,914 shares of company stock worth $22,613,288 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.39% 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.