Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) Stock Price Down 4.8% – What’s Next?

Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP)’s stock price was down 4.8% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $194.12 and last traded at $194.56. Approximately 462,002 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 72% from the average daily volume of 1,647,772 shares. The stock had previously closed at $204.30.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on TRGP shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Targa Resources from $173.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Barclays upped their target price 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 upped their target price on Targa Resources from $153.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. US Capital Advisors lowered Targa Resources from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on Targa Resources in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $182.00 target price for the company. One research 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $176.50.

Targa Resources Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $42.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 2.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $175.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $148.59.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last announced 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. Targa Resources had a return on equity of 27.59% and a net margin of 7.65%. The company had revenue of $3.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.97 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Targa Resources Corp. will post 6.28 EPS for the current year.

Targa Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.25%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Joe Bob Perkins sold 150,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.53, for a total value of $23,329,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 110,470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,181,399.10. This represents a 57.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Julie H. Boushka sold 3,260 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.74, for a total value of $621,812.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 35,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,703,175.82. This represents a 8.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 183,260 shares of company stock worth $29,661,212. 1.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,106,591 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,235,927,000 after purchasing an additional 633,589 shares during the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new stake in shares of Targa Resources in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $72,345,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 239.1% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 791,095 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $101,877,000 after purchasing an additional 557,832 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 13.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,303,522 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $296,647,000 after purchasing an additional 271,444 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 75.4% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 604,112 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $89,413,000 after purchasing an additional 259,776 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.13% of the company’s stock.

Targa Resources Company Profile

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.