GAP (NYSE:GPS) Lifted to Buy at TD Cowen

TD Cowen upgraded shares of GAP (NYSE:GPS) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $30.00 price target on the apparel retailer’s stock, up from their previous price target of $28.00.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on GPS. StockNews.com lowered GAP from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on GAP from $18.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on GAP from $17.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on GAP from $23.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on GAP from $15.50 to $18.50 and gave the company an underperform rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $25.98.

GAP Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of GPS stock opened at $24.03 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.50. GAP has a 1 year low of $8.51 and a 1 year high of $30.75. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $23.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $22.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.01 billion, a PE ratio of 13.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 2.35.

GAP (NYSE:GPS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The apparel retailer reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.27. GAP had a return on equity of 27.57% and a net margin of 4.52%. The company had revenue of $3.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.29 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.01 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that GAP will post 1.74 EPS for the current year.

GAP Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. GAP’s payout ratio is 33.33%.

Insider Activity at GAP

In other GAP news, CFO Katrina O’connell sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.01, for a total value of $580,200.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 30.81% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky increased its holdings in shares of GAP by 90.6% during the 3rd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 74,080 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $787,000 after acquiring an additional 35,223 shares during the last quarter. Symmetry Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of GAP during the 4th quarter valued at about $443,000. Polianta Ltd acquired a new position in shares of GAP during the 4th quarter valued at about $968,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of GAP by 266.4% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 48,820 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,021,000 after acquiring an additional 35,495 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of GAP by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 263,675 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $5,513,000 after acquiring an additional 3,109 shares during the last quarter. 58.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.