The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GPS) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GPS) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the sixteen ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $25.98.

Several research analysts have issued reports on GPS shares. Bank of America upped their price target on GAP from $15.50 to $18.50 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. TD Cowen raised GAP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $28.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of GAP from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. Daiwa America raised shares of GAP to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of GAP from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Katrina O’connell sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.01, for a total value of $580,200.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other GAP news, Director Tracy Gardner sold 2,934 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.48, for a total value of $68,890.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 51,901 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,218,635.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Katrina O’connell sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.01, for a total value of $580,200.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,132 shares of company stock valued at $654,003 in the last three months. Company insiders own 30.81% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in GAP in the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd increased its stake in GAP by 37.2% in the first quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 1,965 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 533 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S acquired a new position in GAP in the fourth quarter worth about $73,000. VitalStone Financial LLC bought a new position in GAP during the fourth quarter worth about $197,000. Finally, SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in GAP during the first quarter valued at approximately $207,000. 58.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

GAP Trading Down 4.1 %

Shares of GAP stock opened at $22.99 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.29. GAP has a fifty-two week low of $9.02 and a fifty-two week high of $30.75. The firm has a market cap of $8.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 2.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

GAP (NYSE:GPS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The apparel retailer reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.27. GAP had a net margin of 4.52% and a return on equity of 27.57%. The company had revenue of $3.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.01 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that GAP will post 1.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

GAP Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.61%. GAP’s payout ratio is 33.33%.

About GAP

The Gap, Inc operates as an apparel retail company. The company offers apparel, accessories, and personal care products for men, women, and children under the Old Navy, Gap, Banana Republic, and Athleta brands. Its products include adult apparel and accessories; and fitness and lifestyle products for use in yoga, training, sports, travel, and everyday activities for women and girls.