The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Friday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $19.48, but opened at $22.46. GAP shares last traded at $22.18, with a volume of 3,038,326 shares.
The company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.18. GAP had a return on equity of 29.03% and a net margin of 5.40%. The business had revenue of $4.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.07 billion.
GAP Increases Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. This is an increase from GAP's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. GAP's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.86%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GAP. Bank of America lifted 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. BMO Capital Markets lifted 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. Barclays lifted their price target on GAP from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group upgraded GAP from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $16.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $29.33.
Check Out Our Latest Analysis on GAP
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other GAP news, Director William Sydney Fisher sold 123,950 shares of GAP stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.24, for a total value of $3,252,448.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,696,517 shares of the company's stock, valued at $96,996,606.08. The trade was a 3.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder John J. Fisher sold 250,000 shares of GAP stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.18, for a total value of $6,045,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,000,752 shares in the company, valued at $24,198,183.36. This trade represents a 19.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 31.00% of the company's stock.
GAP Price Performance
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 firm has a market capitalization of $8.76 billion, a PE ratio of 10.76, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 2.38. The company's 50 day moving average is $23.14.
About GAP
(
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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.
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