The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GPS) Receives $18.95 Consensus PT from Brokerages

The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GPS) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the fourteen analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $18.95.

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on GAP from $14.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Barclays upped their target price on GAP from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. KGI Securities increased their price target on GAP from $9.10 to $25.20 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded GAP from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $16.00 to $20.00 in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of GAP from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Mark Breitbard sold 27,222 shares of GAP stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.18, for a total value of $767,115.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 123,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,493,897.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Mark Breitbard sold 27,222 shares of GAP stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.18, for a total value of $767,115.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 123,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,493,897.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Julie Gruber sold 24,180 shares of GAP stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.00, for a total transaction of $556,140.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,384 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,832. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 266,723 shares of company stock valued at $6,886,765 in the last 90 days. 31.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in shares of GAP by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 270,730 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $7,459,000 after purchasing an additional 7,055 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of GAP by 14.1% during the 1st quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 2,305,600 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $63,519,000 after purchasing an additional 285,000 shares in the last quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of GAP during the 4th quarter valued at $197,000. United Services Automobile Association bought a new stake in shares of GAP during the 4th quarter worth $349,000. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board purchased a new position in GAP in the fourth quarter worth $220,000. 58.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

GAP Trading Down 3.4 %

GPS stock opened at $19.82 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $22.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.85. GAP has a fifty-two week low of $7.22 and a fifty-two week high of $28.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 2.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

GAP (NYSE:GPS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The apparel retailer reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.29. GAP had a return on equity of 22.56% and a net margin of 3.37%. The business had revenue of $4.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.75) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that GAP will post 1.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

GAP Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.03%. GAP’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.78%.

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.