The Gap, Inc. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.17 (NYSE:GAP)

Key Points

• The Gap, Inc. has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.17, with shareholders of record on October 8th set to receive this payment on October 29th, reflecting an annualized yield of 3.1%.
• The company has a payout ratio of 26.5% and is projected to earn $2.14 per share next year, indicating it can sustain its annual dividend.
• In its last quarterly earnings report, GAP exceeded analysts' expectations by posting $0.51 earnings per share, with revenues of $3.46 billion, a 2.2% increase compared to the previous year.

The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, August 13th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 8th will be given a dividend of 0.165 per share on Wednesday, October 29th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 8th.

GAP has a payout ratio of 26.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect GAP to earn $2.14 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.66 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 30.8%.

GAP Stock Performance

NYSE:GAP traded up $0.23 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $20.92. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,367,831 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,968,254. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $21.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.79. GAP has a 12-month low of $16.99 and a 12-month high of $29.29. The stock has a market cap of $7.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.06, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 2.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

GAP (NYSE:GAP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.07. GAP had a return on equity of 27.86% and a net margin of 5.80%. The firm had revenue of $3.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.41 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.41 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that GAP will post 2.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on GAP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on GAP from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on GAP from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "hold" rating and issued a $29.00 price target (up previously from $26.00) on shares of GAP in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Citigroup lowered their price objective on GAP from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of GAP from $29.00 to $27.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 30th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $27.93.

GAP Company Profile

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.