The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP) Receives Average Recommendation of "Hold" from Analysts

Key Points

• The Gap, Inc. has received a consensus rating of "Hold" from analysts, with nine recommending a hold and six a buy, and an average 12-month target price of $25.73.
• Recent price objectives set by various analysts range from $19.00 to $26.00, with Bank of America lowering their target to $21.00.
• GAP recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.165 per share, representing an annualized yield of 3.1%.

Shares of The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus rating of "Hold" from the fifteen analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $25.7333.

GAP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of GAP from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of GAP from $27.00 to $24.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $29.00 price target (up from $26.00) on shares of GAP in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Barclays cut shares of GAP from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $24.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of GAP from $27.00 to $23.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 22nd.

GAP Price Performance

NYSE GAP traded down $0.83 on Friday, reaching $21.48. The company had a trading volume of 10,329,500 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,920,394. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.09 billion, a PE ratio of 9.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 2.15. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $21.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.73. GAP has a 12 month low of $16.99 and a 12 month high of $29.29.

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

GAP Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 8th will be paid a $0.165 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 8th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. GAP's dividend payout ratio is presently 28.57%.

Institutional Trading of GAP

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GAP. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in GAP during the first quarter worth $30,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in GAP during the first quarter worth $75,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in GAP during the first quarter worth $80,000. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators purchased a new stake in GAP during the first quarter worth $81,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd purchased a new stake in GAP during the first quarter worth $82,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.