The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $27.21.

GAP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of GAP from $32.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of GAP from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of GAP from $33.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of GAP from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of GAP from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 10th.

GAP Trading Down 0.9%

GAP stock opened at $27.72 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.44 billion, a PE ratio of 12.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 2.24. GAP has a 12-month low of $16.99 and a 12-month high of $28.43.

GAP (NYSE:GAP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $4.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.07 billion. GAP had a net margin of 5.40% and a return on equity of 29.03%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that GAP will post 2.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

GAP Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.38%. GAP’s payout ratio is 29.86%.

Insider Activity at GAP

In other news, CEO Mark Breitbard sold 51,385 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.00, for a total transaction of $1,387,395.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 123,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,347,595. The trade was a 29.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Julie Gruber sold 1,537 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.59, for a total value of $30,109.83. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $732,568.05. The trade was a 3.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 228,880 shares of company stock worth $4,985,854. Company insiders own 30.56% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of GAP

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of GAP during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of GAP during the first quarter valued at approximately $75,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of GAP during the first quarter valued at approximately $80,000. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators bought a new position in GAP in the first quarter worth $81,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd bought a new position in GAP in the first quarter worth $82,000. Institutional investors own 58.81% of the company’s stock.

About GAP

Gap, Inc operates as a global apparel retail company, which offers clothing, apparel, accessories, and personal care products for men, women, and children. The firm operates through the following segments: Gap Global, Old Navy Global, Banana Republic Global, Athleta, and Other. The Gap Global segment includes apparel and accessories for men and women under the Gap brand, along with the GapKids, BabyGap, GapMaternity, GapBody, and GapFit collections.