The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GPS) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GPS) was the target of a large decline in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 31,910,000 shares, a decline of 5.4% from the March 31st total of 33,740,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 7,740,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.1 days. Currently, 14.4% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on GPS shares. TheStreet upgraded GAP from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Cowen boosted their price objective on GAP from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded GAP from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $16.00 to $20.00 in a report on Monday, February 26th. KGI Securities upped their price objective on GAP from $9.10 to $25.20 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group upped their target price on GAP from $17.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.95.

GAP Stock Down 2.7 %

NYSE:GPS traded down $0.58 on Tuesday, hitting $20.67. 2,740,549 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,503,675. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $22.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.78. 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 has a 52 week low of $7.22 and a 52 week high of $28.59. The company has a market cap of $7.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 2.28.

GAP (NYSE:GPS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The apparel retailer reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $4.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.22 billion. GAP had a net margin of 3.37% and a return on equity of 22.56%. GAP’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.75) EPS. As a group, analysts expect that GAP will post 1.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

GAP Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. GAP’s payout ratio is 44.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Katrina O’connell sold 45,266 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.58, for a total transaction of $1,022,106.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 5,937 shares in the company, valued at approximately $134,057.46. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Katrina O’connell sold 45,266 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.58, for a total transaction of $1,022,106.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 5,937 shares in the company, valued at approximately $134,057.46. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Sarah Gilligan sold 29,425 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.58, for a total value of $664,416.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,318.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 266,723 shares of company stock valued at $6,886,765. 31.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On GAP

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of GAP during the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of GAP by 317.5% during the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,793 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 2,124 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in shares of GAP by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 263,675 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $5,513,000 after purchasing an additional 3,109 shares in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S bought a new position in shares of GAP during the fourth quarter valued at about $73,000. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of GAP by 11.3% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 41,265 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $863,000 after purchasing an additional 4,200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.81% of the company’s stock.

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.