Kentucky Retirement Systems Cuts Stake in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP)

Kentucky Retirement Systems decreased its holdings in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 15,055 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 207 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Targa Resources were worth $2,687,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. RPS Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Targa Resources during the 4th quarter valued at $595,000. ING Groep NV boosted its position in Targa Resources by 70.5% during the 4th quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 49,951 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $8,916,000 after buying an additional 20,651 shares during the period. Aspect Partners LLC boosted its position in Targa Resources by 144.4% during the 4th quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 220 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC boosted its position in Targa Resources by 75.1% during the 4th quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 14,397 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,570,000 after buying an additional 6,177 shares during the period. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its position in Targa Resources by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 32,239 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $5,755,000 after buying an additional 1,091 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.13% of the company’s stock.

Targa Resources Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE TRGP opened at $200.89 on Friday. Targa Resources Corp. has a 1 year low of $95.88 and a 1 year high of $218.51. The stock has a market cap of $43.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 2.29. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $195.91 and a 200 day moving average of $175.92. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The pipeline company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by ($0.46). Targa Resources had a net margin of 7.81% and a return on equity of 28.67%. The business had revenue of $4.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.48 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Targa Resources Corp. will post 8.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Targa Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.49%. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.26%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on TRGP shares. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $171.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $172.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. US Capital Advisors cut shares of Targa Resources from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $185.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $203.77.

Targa Resources Company Profile

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.