HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC Takes Position in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP)

HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 68,589 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,243,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,160,608 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $4,848,169,000 after acquiring an additional 150,038 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Targa Resources by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,930,473 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,056,187,000 after purchasing an additional 212,986 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Targa Resources in the 4th quarter worth approximately $505,132,000. GQG Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Targa Resources during the 4th quarter valued at $393,335,000. Finally, Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 20.9% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,841,175 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $353,469,000 after buying an additional 318,261 shares during the period. 92.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on TRGP. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Targa Resources from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Targa Resources from $185.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $220.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $208.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.64.

Targa Resources Stock Up 1.0 %

NYSE TRGP opened at $174.48 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05. Targa Resources Corp. has a 12 month low of $110.09 and a 12 month high of $218.51. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $189.42 and its 200 day moving average is $187.18. The stock has a market cap of $37.97 billion, a PE ratio of 30.40, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.75.

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

Targa Resources Cuts Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.28%. Targa Resources’s payout ratio is presently 69.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Targa Resources

In related news, insider D. Scott Pryor sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.30, for a total value of $6,905,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 82,139 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,206,024.70. The trade was a 29.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Matthew J. Meloy sold 48,837 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.08, for a total transaction of $9,527,121.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 725,628 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $141,555,510.24. This trade represents a 6.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 115,914 shares of company stock worth $22,613,288 in the last quarter. 1.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Targa Resources 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.