Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) Sets New 1-Year High After Dividend Announcement

Shares of Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday after the company announced a dividend. The company traded as high as $210.00 and last traded at $208.33, with a volume of 108708 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $205.50.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $182.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $172.00 to $199.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. US Capital Advisors cut shares of Targa Resources from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Targa Resources from $173.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target on Targa Resources from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. 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. According to MarketBeat, Targa Resources has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $189.21.

Targa Resources Stock Up 1.4 %

The firm’s fifty day moving average is $191.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $163.49. The firm has a market cap of $47.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.06, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 2.30. 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 (NYSE:TRGP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $3.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.24 billion. Targa Resources had a net margin of 7.65% and a return on equity of 27.59%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Targa Resources Corp. will post 6.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider D. Scott Pryor sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.33, for a total transaction of $5,709,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 82,979 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,793,393.07. This trade represents a 26.55 % decrease in their position. The transaction 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 firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.74, for a total transaction of $621,812.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 35,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,703,175.82. The trade was a 8.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Targa Resources by 4.4% during 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Targa Resources by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,717,487 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $843,680,000 after purchasing an additional 97,583 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in Targa Resources by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,331,503 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $197,076,000 after purchasing an additional 14,287 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Targa Resources by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,257,613 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $186,139,000 after purchasing an additional 96,268 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 19.5% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,034,545 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $153,124,000 after buying an additional 168,602 shares during 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.