Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Invests $1.17 Million in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 13,500 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,173,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Targa Resources by 5.1% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,319,024 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $713,107,000 after acquiring an additional 401,144 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in Targa Resources by 200.4% in the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,577,027 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $478,063,000 after purchasing an additional 3,720,270 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Targa Resources by 16.1% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,791,452 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $325,003,000 after purchasing an additional 524,794 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in Targa Resources by 1.6% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,487,507 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $213,229,000 after purchasing an additional 39,143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its holdings in Targa Resources by 3.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,431,326 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $208,413,000 after purchasing an additional 74,310 shares in the last quarter. 92.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Targa Resources

In other Targa Resources news, insider D. Scott Pryor sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.00, for a total value of $970,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 156,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,141,506. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Targa Resources news, CFO Jennifer R. Kneale sold 26,061 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.36, for a total value of $2,537,298.96. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 227,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,165,269.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider D. Scott Pryor sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.00, for a total value of $970,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 156,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,141,506. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 81,966 shares of company stock valued at $7,987,215 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.44% of the company’s stock.

Targa Resources Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:TRGP opened at $113.51 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $25.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.93 and a beta of 2.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. Targa Resources Corp. has a 12-month low of $67.36 and a 12-month high of $117.61. The business’s 50 day moving average is $106.35 and its 200 day moving average is $93.10.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The pipeline company reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.26). The company had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.50 billion. Targa Resources had a net margin of 5.20% and a return on equity of 18.64%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Targa Resources Corp. will post 5.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Targa Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is a boost from Targa Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.64%. Targa Resources’s payout ratio is presently 54.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on TRGP. Barclays lifted their target price on Targa Resources from $116.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Targa Resources from $105.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Targa Resources from $112.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Targa Resources from $109.00 to $108.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Targa Resources from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $119.55.

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.