Guggenheim Reaffirms “Buy” Rating for GAP (NYSE:GPS)

Guggenheim reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of GAP (NYSE:GPS) in a report issued on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $18.00 target price on the apparel retailer’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of GAP from $12.00 to $10.00 in a research report on Friday, May 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of GAP from $10.00 to $11.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 30th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a market perform rating and set a $11.00 target price on shares of GAP in a research report on Friday, August 25th. TheStreet raised shares of GAP from a d+ rating to a c- rating in a research report on Thursday, July 27th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of GAP from $9.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, August 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, GAP presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $11.43.

GAP Price Performance

Shares of GPS opened at $11.20 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $10.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.66. GAP has a fifty-two week low of $7.22 and a fifty-two week high of $15.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.12 billion, a PE ratio of 38.62, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 1.41.

GAP (NYSE:GPS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 24th. The apparel retailer reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.25. GAP had a net margin of 0.71% and a return on equity of 5.06%. The firm had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.08 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that GAP will post 0.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

GAP Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 3rd. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.36%. GAP’s payout ratio is 206.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling at GAP

In other news, CEO Horacio Barbeito sold 154,599 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.26, for a total value of $1,586,185.74. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Katrina O’connell sold 24,509 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.36, for a total value of $253,913.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Horacio Barbeito sold 154,599 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.26, for a total transaction of $1,586,185.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 179,655 shares of company stock worth $1,846,455. 30.81% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of GAP

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GPS. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in GAP during the fourth quarter worth $20,617,000. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC boosted its holdings in GAP by 57.0% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC now owns 1,325,293 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $13,306,000 after buying an additional 481,339 shares in the last quarter. American International Group Inc. boosted its holdings in GAP by 470.4% during the first quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 360,438 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $5,075,000 after buying an additional 297,247 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in GAP by 54.9% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 535,779 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $7,544,000 after buying an additional 189,872 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in GAP by 5.0% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,036,564 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $27,117,000 after buying an additional 145,468 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.71% 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 denim and khakis; eyewear, jewelry, shoes, handbags, and fragrances; and fitness and lifestyle products for use in yoga, training, sports, travel, and everyday activities for women and girls.