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

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

GPS has been the subject of a number of other reports. KGI Securities upped their price target on shares of GAP from $9.10 to $25.20 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Barclays lifted their price target on GAP from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. StockNews.com lowered GAP from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their target price on GAP from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of GAP from a c rating to a b- rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. One equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $25.98.

GAP Stock Down 0.7 %

GPS stock opened at $24.64 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.06. The company has a market capitalization of $9.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.69, a PEG ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 2.35. GAP has a twelve month low of $8.51 and a twelve month high of $30.75.

GAP (NYSE:GPS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The apparel retailer reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.27. GAP had a return on equity of 27.57% and a net margin of 4.52%. The firm had revenue of $3.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.01 earnings per share. GAP’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that GAP will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

GAP Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.44%. GAP’s payout ratio is 33.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Katrina O’connell sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.01, for a total transaction of $580,200.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 31.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GPS. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of GAP by 33.0% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 367,130 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $7,677,000 after acquiring an additional 91,151 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in GAP by 11.3% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 41,265 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $863,000 after purchasing an additional 4,200 shares during the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its holdings in shares of GAP by 90.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 35,223 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of GAP in the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in shares of GAP by 1.2% in 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 purchasing an additional 3,109 shares during the last quarter. 58.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

GAP Company Profile

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.