The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) Price Target to $117.00

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) had its price target hoisted by The Goldman Sachs Group from $105.00 to $117.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the pipeline company’s stock.

TRGP has been the subject of several other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $105.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $109.00 to $108.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $104.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $105.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Targa Resources currently has an average rating of Buy and a consensus price target of $115.10.

Targa Resources Trading Up 1.4 %

TRGP opened at $115.97 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.66. Targa Resources has a fifty-two week low of $67.36 and a fifty-two week high of $116.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.81 billion, a PE ratio of 31.60 and a beta of 2.21. The company’s 50-day moving average is $100.33 and its 200 day moving average is $90.72.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The pipeline company reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.26). Targa Resources had a return on equity of 18.64% and a net margin of 5.20%. The business had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.50 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Targa Resources will post 5.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Targa Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 30th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.72%. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Targa Resources news, insider D. Scott Pryor sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.00, for a total transaction of $970,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 156,098 shares in the company, valued at $15,141,506. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Targa Resources news, insider D. Scott Pryor sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.00, for a total transaction of $970,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 156,098 shares in the company, valued at $15,141,506. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Joe Bob Perkins sold 33,405 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.67, for a total transaction of $3,262,666.35. Following the transaction, the director now owns 38,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,754,434.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 81,966 shares of company stock worth $7,987,215 over the last quarter. 1.39% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Targa Resources

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of TRGP. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Targa Resources in the first quarter worth about $250,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 5.3% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 14,741 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,112,000 after buying an additional 737 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 11.6% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 186,471 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $14,072,000 after buying an additional 19,372 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Targa Resources in the first quarter worth about $249,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 91.8% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,429 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $108,000 after buying an additional 684 shares in the last quarter. 92.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.