Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI Makes New $72.35 Million Investment in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP)

Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new position in shares of Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 561,769 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $72,345,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,015,992 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,025,521,000 after acquiring an additional 201,817 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 231.3% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,378,046 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $119,712,000 after acquiring an additional 962,073 shares in the last quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board raised its position in Targa Resources by 287.3% during the 1st quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 45,700 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $5,118,000 after purchasing an additional 33,900 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in Targa Resources by 160.3% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 290,080 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $32,486,000 after purchasing an additional 178,655 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sciencast Management LP bought a new position in Targa Resources during the 1st quarter worth $1,910,000. Institutional investors own 92.13% of the company’s stock.

Targa Resources Stock Performance

Shares of Targa Resources stock opened at $156.49 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.20, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 2.26. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $141.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $126.32. Targa Resources Corp. has a one year low of $77.97 and a one year high of $157.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.53.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The pipeline company reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $3.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.33 billion. Targa Resources had a net margin of 6.60% and a return on equity of 23.98%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.44 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Targa Resources Corp. will post 5.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Targa Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.92%. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.73%.

Insider Activity at Targa Resources

In other news, insider Robert Muraro sold 9,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.31, for a total value of $1,290,069.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 186,951 shares in the company, valued at $24,361,584.81. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Gerald R. Shrader sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.06, for a total value of $408,180.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,603 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,027,784.18. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Robert Muraro sold 9,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.31, for a total transaction of $1,290,069.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 186,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,361,584.81. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 35,434 shares of company stock valued at $4,775,590 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Targa Resources from $134.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Barclays raised their target price on Targa Resources from $123.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. UBS Group raised their target price on Targa Resources from $116.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Targa Resources from $124.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Targa Resources from $147.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $141.77.

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.