GAP (NYSE:GPS) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.39 EPS

GAP (NYSE:GPS) issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The apparel retailer reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.39, Briefing.com reports. GAP had a return on equity of 5.06% and a net margin of 0.71%. The firm had revenue of $3.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.61 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.71 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.7% on a year-over-year basis.

GAP Stock Up 30.6 %

NYSE:GPS opened at $17.85 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market cap of $6.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.55, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.92. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $11.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $10.28. GAP has a 1 year low of $7.22 and a 1 year high of $18.14.

GAP Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 3rd will be issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 2nd. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. GAP’s dividend payout ratio is presently 206.90%.

Insider Activity at GAP

In other news, CFO Katrina O’connell sold 24,509 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.36, for a total transaction of $253,913.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CFO Katrina O’connell sold 24,509 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.36, for a total transaction of $253,913.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Sarah Gilligan sold 8,712 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.00, for a total value of $121,968.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $164,374. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 33,768 shares of company stock valued at $382,237. Insiders own 30.81% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On GAP

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in shares of GAP during the 4th quarter valued at $20,617,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of GAP by 73.4% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,572,524 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $37,976,000 after acquiring an additional 1,512,067 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC boosted its holdings in shares of GAP by 57.0% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC now owns 1,325,293 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $13,306,000 after acquiring an additional 481,339 shares in the last quarter. American International Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of GAP by 470.4% during the 1st quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 360,438 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $5,075,000 after acquiring an additional 297,247 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of GAP by 54.9% during the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 535,779 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $7,544,000 after acquiring an additional 189,872 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on GPS shares. TheStreet raised GAP from a “d+” rating to a “c-” rating in a report on Thursday, July 27th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $18.00 target price on shares of GAP in a report on Wednesday, September 13th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on GAP from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on GAP from $13.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on GAP from $9.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, GAP presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.13.

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.