The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GPS) Receives $25.86 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GPS) have received an average rating of “Hold” from the sixteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have assigned a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $25.86.

Several brokerages have commented on GPS. Citigroup raised GAP from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $21.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. TheStreet raised GAP from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on GAP from $18.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on GAP from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group lifted their price target on GAP from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st.

Insider Buying and Selling at GAP

In related news, CEO Mark Breitbard sold 93,809 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.14, for a total transaction of $2,639,785.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 141,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,978,348.78. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Mark Breitbard sold 93,809 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.14, for a total transaction of $2,639,785.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 141,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,978,348.78. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Katrina O’connell sold 9,818 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.94, for a total value of $274,314.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 160,263 shares of company stock worth $4,524,443 in the last three months. 31.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GPS. Hennessy Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in GAP by 14.1% in the 1st quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 2,305,600 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $63,519,000 after purchasing an additional 285,000 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in GAP by 33.0% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 367,130 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $7,677,000 after purchasing an additional 91,151 shares in the last quarter. Polianta Ltd purchased a new position in GAP in the 4th quarter worth approximately $968,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in GAP by 266.4% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 48,820 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,021,000 after purchasing an additional 35,495 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its holdings in GAP by 90.6% in the 3rd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 74,080 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $787,000 after purchasing an additional 35,223 shares in the last quarter. 58.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

GAP Stock Performance

NYSE:GPS opened at $25.83 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $9.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.26 and a beta of 2.35. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $22.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.93. GAP has a twelve month low of $8.51 and a twelve month high of $30.75. 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 released its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $3.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.29 billion. GAP had a net margin of 4.52% and a return on equity of 27.57%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.01 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that GAP will post 1.74 EPS for the current year.

GAP Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.32%. GAP’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.33%.

GAP Company Profile

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.