GAP (NYSE:GAP) Shares Gap Up on Better-Than-Expected Earnings

The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP) shares gapped up prior to trading on Friday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. 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 changing hands.

The company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.18. GAP had a net margin of 5.40% and a return on equity of 29.03%. The company had revenue of $4.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.07 billion.

GAP Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be given a $0.165 dividend. This is an increase from GAP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.84%. GAP’s dividend payout ratio is 30.56%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GAP has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on GAP from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of GAP from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Argus raised shares of GAP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on GAP from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on GAP from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.33.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder John J. Fisher sold 250,000 shares of GAP stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,198,183.36. The trade was a 19.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director William Sydney Fisher sold 123,950 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.24, for a total value of $3,252,448.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,696,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $96,996,606.08. This represents a 3.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 31.00% of the company’s stock.

GAP Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $8.76 billion, a PE ratio of 10.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 2.36. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $23.14.

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.