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

Shares of The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eleven ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $28.30.

GAP has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on GAP from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America upped their price target on GAP from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on GAP from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $35.00 price target on shares of GAP in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on GAP from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd.

Insider Activity at GAP

In related news, CEO Horacio Barbeito sold 75,385 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total transaction of $1,507,700.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 31.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

GAP Stock Performance

GAP stock opened at $24.15 on Friday. 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 52 week low of $18.34 and a 52 week high of $30.75. The firm has a market cap of $9.09 billion, a PE ratio of 11.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 2.35. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $21.56.

GAP (NYSE:GAP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 29th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.61 billion. GAP had a return on equity of 29.03% and a net margin of 5.40%. On average, research analysts forecast that GAP will post 1.97 earnings per share for the current year.

GAP Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 8th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.48%. GAP’s payout ratio is 27.78%.

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.