Independent Advisor Alliance Trims Position in Targa Resources, Inc. $TRGP

Independent Advisor Alliance lowered its stake in shares of Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP) by 56.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,818 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 11,413 shares during the quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in Targa Resources were worth $1,477,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 205,934 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $35,849,000 after buying an additional 10,889 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Targa Resources by 260.2% in the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 128,911 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $22,526,000 after acquiring an additional 93,119 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in Targa Resources by 137.9% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 66,636 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $11,164,000 after acquiring an additional 38,626 shares during the period. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT lifted its holdings in Targa Resources by 2.4% in the third quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT now owns 682,300 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $114,313,000 after acquiring an additional 16,000 shares during the period. Finally, Aberdeen Group plc boosted its position in shares of Targa Resources by 17.6% during the 2nd quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 175,571 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $30,563,000 after purchasing an additional 26,318 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.13% of the company’s stock.

Targa Resources Stock Up 2.5%

TRGP stock opened at $203.54 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.91, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $183.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $170.71. Targa Resources, Inc. has a 12 month low of $144.14 and a 12 month high of $211.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.69 billion, a PE ratio of 27.07, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.88.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $2.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.22 by ($0.02). Targa Resources had a return on equity of 51.87% and a net margin of 9.35%.The company had revenue of $4.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.70 billion. Equities analysts expect that Targa Resources, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Targa Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 30th will be issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 30th. Targa Resources’s payout ratio is 53.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on TRGP. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $224.00 price target on shares of Targa Resources in a report on Friday, January 16th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $185.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $213.00 target price on shares of Targa Resources in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Targa Resources from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Targa Resources in a report on Friday, January 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $213.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Targa Resources

In other news, insider D. Scott Pryor sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.21, for a total value of $3,444,200.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 22,139 shares in the company, valued at $3,812,557.19. This represents a 47.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Gerald R. Shrader sold 2,750 shares of Targa Resources stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.21, for a total value of $498,327.50. Following the sale, the insider owned 29,561 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,356,748.81. This represents a 8.51% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 1.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Targa Resources Profile

Targa Resources Corporation (NYSE: TRGP) is a U.S.-focused midstream energy company that provides gathering, processing, transportation, storage and marketing services for natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and condensate. Its operations span the midstream value chain, including gas gathering systems that collect production from wells, processing plants that separate and recover NGLs and other hydrocarbons, fractionation and purification facilities that prepare NGLs for market, and pipeline and terminal assets that move and store products for producers, refiners and other customers.

The company operates a network of pipelines, processing plants, fractionators and storage facilities that serve producers and consumers across major U.S.