Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Grows Position in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in shares of Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) by 981.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,144,109 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,038,350 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s holdings in Targa Resources were worth $204,223,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new position in shares of Targa Resources in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its position in Targa Resources by 394.6% during the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 183 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the period. Mizuho Bank Ltd. purchased a new stake in Targa Resources during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Aspect Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 144.4% in the fourth quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 220 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 49.4% in the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 269 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.13% of the company’s stock.

Targa Resources Trading Up 2.8 %

Shares of TRGP stock opened at $172.76 on Thursday. Targa Resources Corp. has a 1-year low of $110.09 and a 1-year high of $218.51. The company has a market cap of $37.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.10, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $190.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $187.00.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The pipeline company reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by ($0.46). Targa Resources had a return on equity of 28.67% and a net margin of 7.81%. The company had revenue of $4.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.48 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Targa Resources Corp. will post 8.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Targa Resources Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th will be paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.28%. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Targa Resources news, CEO Matthew J. Meloy sold 48,837 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.08, for a total value of $9,527,121.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 725,628 shares in the company, valued at approximately $141,555,510.24. This trade represents a 6.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer R. Kneale sold 29,887 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.42, for a total transaction of $5,750,856.54. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 227,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,731,100.98. The trade was a 11.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 115,914 shares of company stock worth $22,613,288. Insiders own 1.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup upped their target price on Targa Resources from $218.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. US Capital Advisors upgraded shares of Targa Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $211.00 to $206.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Targa Resources from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $210.64.

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.