Targa Resources, Inc. $TRGP Stock: Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Cuts Holdings

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lessened its position in shares of Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP) by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 435,300 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 15,815 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Targa Resources were worth $117,666,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TRGP. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Targa Resources in the second quarter worth approximately $734,846,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Targa Resources during the second quarter worth $336,575,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in Targa Resources during the second quarter worth $275,702,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in Targa Resources during the second quarter worth $274,660,000. Finally, Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP purchased a new stake in Targa Resources in the second quarter valued at $260,337,000. 92.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on TRGP. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Targa Resources from $282.00 to $324.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $340.00 price target on shares of Targa Resources in a report on Tuesday, October 20th. Barclays raised their price objective on Targa Resources from $284.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $315.00 to $351.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and twenty have assigned a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $325.47.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Charles R. Crisp sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.23, for a total transaction of $870,690.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 62,292 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,079,007.16. This represents a 4.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul W. Chung sold 1,816 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.11, for a total value of $537,735.76. Following the transaction, the director owned 44,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,028,840. This trade represents a 3.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 7,216 shares of company stock valued at $2,127,634. 1.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Targa Resources Stock Performance

NYSE:TRGP opened at $294.42 on Tuesday. Targa Resources, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $151.78 and a fifty-two week high of $316.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.01, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.77. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $290.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $259.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.15, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.80.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The pipeline company reported $3.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by $0.71. The company had revenue of $4.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.90 billion. Targa Resources had a return on equity of 69.26% and a net margin of 13.55%. Equities research analysts forecast that Targa Resources, Inc. will post 11.42 EPS for the current year.

Targa Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be paid a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 30th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Targa Resources’s payout ratio is presently 47.80%.

Targa Resources Profile

Targa Resources Corp. is a Houston-based midstream energy company that owns, operates and develops infrastructure used to gather, process, transport, store and fractionate natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs). Its operations support producers and other energy companies by connecting hydrocarbon supplies with domestic and international markets.

The company’s services include natural gas gathering and processing, NGL recovery, fractionation and storage, crude oil gathering, and the transportation and logistics of NGLs and related products.