The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $28.67.

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on GAP shares. Argus raised shares of GAP to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of GAP from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of GAP from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on GAP from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of GAP in a report on Monday.

GAP Stock Up 9.3 %

Shares of GAP stock traded up $2.04 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $24.08. The company had a trading volume of 7,041,438 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,021,565. GAP has a 12-month low of $18.34 and a 12-month high of $30.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.06 billion, a PE ratio of 11.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 2.35. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $21.32.

GAP (NYSE:GAP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.15. GAP had a net margin of 5.05% and a return on equity of 28.89%. The company had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.61 billion. As a group, analysts expect that GAP will post 1.88 EPS for the current year.

GAP Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 8th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.49%. GAP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.70%.

Insider Activity at GAP

In other news, CEO Horacio Barbeito sold 75,385 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total transaction of $1,507,700.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 31.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.