Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) Reaches New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $158.12 and last traded at $158.02, with a volume of 1096912 shares. The stock had previously closed at $155.50.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group boosted their price target on Targa Resources from $116.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $123.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $124.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Targa Resources from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Targa Resources from $125.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $141.77.

Targa Resources Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $35.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.29, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 2.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.98. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $144.10 and its 200-day moving average is $128.23.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The pipeline company reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $3.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.33 billion. Targa Resources had a return on equity of 23.98% and a net margin of 6.60%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Targa Resources Corp. will post 5.88 EPS for the current year.

Targa Resources Dividend Announcement

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 of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.90%. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Julie H. Boushka sold 1,213 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.02, for a total value of $160,140.26. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 52,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,898,969.14. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Targa Resources news, CAO Julie H. Boushka sold 12,641 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.50, for a total value of $1,700,214.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 38,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,165,203.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Julie H. Boushka sold 1,213 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.02, for a total value of $160,140.26. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 52,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,898,969.14. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 175,534 shares of company stock valued at $26,815,021. 1.39% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Targa Resources

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in TRGP. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 0.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,015,992 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,025,521,000 after buying an additional 201,817 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LP bought a new stake in Targa Resources in the second quarter worth about $2,323,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in 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 during the period. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board grew its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 287.3% in the first 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. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in Targa Resources by 160.3% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 290,080 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $32,486,000 after acquiring an additional 178,655 shares in the last quarter. 92.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Targa Resources

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.