Royal Bank of Canada Raises Stake in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP)

Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) by 24.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 446,309 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 87,485 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned approximately 0.20% of Targa Resources worth $79,665,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TRGP. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Targa Resources in the 4th quarter valued at $505,132,000. GQG Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Targa Resources during the 4th quarter valued at about $393,335,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 981.8% during the 4th quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,144,109 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $204,223,000 after acquiring an additional 1,038,350 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Targa Resources during the 4th quarter worth approximately $150,372,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Targa Resources by 568.7% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 970,373 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $173,212,000 after acquiring an additional 825,267 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Waters S. Iv Davis sold 2,190 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.26, for a total value of $429,809.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,899 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $568,957.74. This trade represents a 43.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer R. Kneale sold 29,887 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.42, for a total transaction of $5,750,856.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 227,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,731,100.98. This represents a 11.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 115,914 shares of company stock worth $22,613,288. 1.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Targa Resources Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of TRGP opened at $164.59 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05. Targa Resources Corp. has a 12-month low of $113.65 and a 12-month high of $218.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.70 billion, a PE ratio of 28.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.22. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $176.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $188.32.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The pipeline company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.04 by ($1.13). Targa Resources had a net margin of 7.81% and a return on equity of 28.67%. The company had revenue of $4.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.01 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Targa Resources Corp. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Targa Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 1st were issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a dividend yield of 2.34%. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 73.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on TRGP. 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. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Targa Resources from $202.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Targa Resources from $226.00 to $218.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Targa Resources from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on Targa Resources from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $201.64.

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.