Range Financial Group LLC Acquires New Stake in Targa Resources, Inc. $TRGP

Range Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 10,747 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,695,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Targa Resources by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 19,643,139 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,291,012,000 after purchasing an additional 1,620,253 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Targa Resources by 1.3% in the fourth 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 position in shares of Targa Resources by 0.8% in the fourth 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 purchased a new position in shares of Targa Resources during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $735,758,000. Finally, Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. lifted its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 20.3% during the fourth 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Targa Resources

In other news, Director Charles R. Crisp sold 10,602 shares of Targa Resources stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.96, for a total value of $2,713,687.92. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 66,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,019,292.32. The trade was a 13.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on TRGP. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $327.00 to $331.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Targa Resources in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Scotiabank increased their price target on Targa Resources from $249.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $281.00 price objective on shares of Targa Resources in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $268.00 price objective on Targa Resources in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $281.93.

Targa Resources Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of NYSE TRGP opened at $272.92 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.58 billion, a PE ratio of 27.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.64. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $264.70 and a 200-day moving average of $234.91. Targa Resources, Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.14 and a 52-week high of $280.00.

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

Targa Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were issued a $1.25 dividend. This is a positive change from Targa Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.56%.

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.