Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) Shares Purchased by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its position in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) by 527.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 317,641 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 267,057 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned about 0.14% of Targa Resources worth $27,593,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,319,024 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $713,107,000 after purchasing an additional 401,144 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 200.4% in the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,577,027 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $478,063,000 after purchasing an additional 3,720,270 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,791,452 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $325,003,000 after purchasing an additional 524,794 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,487,507 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $213,229,000 after purchasing an additional 39,143 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,431,326 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $208,413,000 after purchasing an additional 74,310 shares during the period. 92.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Targa Resources Price Performance

Targa Resources stock opened at $116.75 on Monday. Targa Resources Corp. has a 52-week low of $67.36 and a 52-week high of $117.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.84 and a beta of 2.21. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $108.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $94.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The pipeline company reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.50 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Targa Resources Corp. will post 5.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Targa Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.57%. This is a positive change from Targa Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $104.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $105.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $105.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $111.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $106.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $119.55.

Insider Activity at Targa Resources

In related news, CAO Julie H. Boushka sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.66, for a total value of $244,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 71,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,012,769.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Targa Resources news, insider Robert Muraro sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.31, for a total transaction of $973,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 219,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,354,776.81. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Julie H. Boushka sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.66, for a total transaction of $244,150.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 71,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,012,769.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 81,966 shares of company stock valued at $7,987,215. 1.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.