GAP (NYSE:GAP) Stock Price Expected to Rise, JPMorgan Chase & Co. Analyst Says

GAP (NYSE:GAP - Free Report) had its price target upped by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $26.00 to $28.00 in a research note released on Friday,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on GAP from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays raised their target price on GAP from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. Telsey Advisory Group restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $26.00 price objective on shares of GAP in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Argus raised shares of GAP to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of GAP from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $28.30.

GAP Price Performance

NYSE:GAP traded up $2.83 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $24.87. 35,444,173 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,477,943. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.49 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 stock has a market cap of $9.36 billion, a PE ratio of 11.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 2.35. The company's 50 day moving average is $21.39.

GAP (NYSE:GAP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.61 billion. GAP had a return on equity of 30.10% and a net margin of 5.40%. On average, equities analysts predict that GAP will post 1.87 earnings per share for the current year.

GAP Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 8th. GAP's dividend payout ratio is presently 27.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at GAP

In other news, CEO Horacio Barbeito sold 75,385 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total value of $1,507,700.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 31.00% of the company's stock.

About GAP

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.