Allstate Corp Buys New Shares in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP)

Allstate Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 6,064 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,082,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of TRGP. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new stake in Targa Resources during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of Targa Resources by 394.6% during the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 183 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the period. Aspect Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 144.4% in the 4th quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 220 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its position in shares of Targa Resources by 49.4% during the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 269 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the period. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Targa Resources during the fourth quarter worth $49,000. 92.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Targa Resources Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE:TRGP opened at $197.69 on Monday. Targa Resources Corp. has a 52 week low of $110.09 and a 52 week high of $218.51. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $199.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $185.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market cap of $43.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 2.32.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The pipeline company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by ($0.46). Targa Resources had a net margin of 7.81% and a return on equity of 28.67%. The business had revenue of $4.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.48 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that Targa Resources Corp. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Targa Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.26%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on TRGP shares. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $218.00 to $210.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Barclays upped their price target on Targa Resources from $204.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. 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 report on Friday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Targa Resources from $202.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $185.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Matthew J. Meloy sold 48,837 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.08, for a total value of $9,527,121.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 725,628 shares in the company, valued at approximately $141,555,510.24. This represents a 6.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jennifer R. Kneale sold 29,887 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.42, for a total value of $5,750,856.54. Following the completion of the sale, 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 115,914 shares of company stock valued at $22,613,288. 1.39% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Targa Resources Company 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.