Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Increases Stock Position in Targa Resources, Inc. $TRGP

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP) by 9.5% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 75,907 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,613 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Targa Resources were worth $19,032,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Targa Resources by 9.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 19,643,139 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,291,012,000 after purchasing an additional 1,620,253 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Targa Resources by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,668,233 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,337,289,000 after buying an additional 162,878 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Targa Resources by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,867,345 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,078,497,000 after buying an additional 45,495 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Targa Resources during the 4th quarter valued at $735,758,000. Finally, Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. lifted its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 20.3% during the 4th quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 3,389,006 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $625,272,000 after buying an additional 572,562 shares during the period. 92.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on TRGP. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Targa Resources from $236.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $268.00 target price on Targa Resources in a report on Friday, May 8th. Erste Group Bank began coverage on Targa Resources in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Targa Resources in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $314.00 price target for the company. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $228.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $272.73.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Charles R. Crisp sold 10,602 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.96, for a total value of $2,713,687.92. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 66,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,019,292.32. This represents a 13.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.37% of the company’s stock.

Targa Resources Price Performance

Shares of Targa Resources stock opened at $268.12 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $57.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.64, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.72. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $260.86 and its 200 day moving average is $230.71. Targa Resources, Inc. has a one year low of $144.14 and a one year high of $280.00.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The pipeline company reported $2.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.48 by ($0.27). The company had revenue of $4.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.68 billion. Targa Resources had a net margin of 12.87% and a return on equity of 71.00%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Targa Resources, Inc. will post 10.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Targa Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. This is an increase from Targa Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Targa Resources’s payout ratio is presently 50.56%.

Targa Resources Company 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.