The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $29.25.

GAP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of GAP from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Barclays raised their price target on GAP from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group reduced their price target on GAP from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $26.00 target price on shares of GAP in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Argus upgraded GAP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st.

Insider Activity at GAP

In other news, insider Sarah Gilligan sold 29,813 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.34, for a total transaction of $606,396.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,575.56. This represents a 91.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Elisabeth B. Donohue sold 3,539 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.04, for a total value of $74,460.56. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,000 shares in the company, valued at $84,160. The trade was a 46.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 177,495 shares of company stock worth $3,598,459 in the last three months. 31.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On GAP

An institutional investor recently bought a new position in GAP stock. California State Teachers Retirement System acquired a new position in The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 209,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,953,000. California State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.06% of GAP at the end of the most recent quarter. 58.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

GAP Stock Performance

NYSE:GAP opened at $22.38 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 2.14. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 0.84. GAP has a 1 year low of $18.54 and a 1 year high of $26.41.

GAP (NYSE:GAP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $4.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.07 billion. GAP had a return on equity of 29.03% and a net margin of 5.40%. On average, analysts expect that GAP will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current year.

GAP Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be issued a $0.165 dividend. This is a boost from GAP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.95%. GAP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.86%.

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.