GAP (NYSE:GPS) Earns Buy Rating from Analysts at StockNews.com

Investment analysts at StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of GAP (NYSE:GPS) in a report released on Saturday. The brokerage set a “buy” rating on the apparel retailer’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on GPS. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on GAP from $17.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Morgan Stanley upgraded GAP from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $27.00 to $29.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on GAP from $23.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on GAP from $20.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on GAP from $24.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $26.51.

GAP Price Performance

GAP has a 1-year low of $9.38 and a 1-year high of $30.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a market cap of $9.21 billion, a PE ratio of 13.64, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 2.38. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.78.

GAP (NYSE:GPS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The apparel retailer reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $3.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.29 billion. GAP had a return on equity of 27.57% and a net margin of 4.52%. GAP’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.01 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that GAP will post 1.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Tracy Gardner sold 2,934 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.48, for a total transaction of $68,890.32. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 51,901 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,218,635.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 30.81% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in GAP by 25.8% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,157 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 443 shares in the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd grew its holdings in GAP by 37.2% in the 1st quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 1,965 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 533 shares in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S acquired a new position in GAP in the 4th quarter valued at $73,000. Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC grew its holdings in GAP by 14.4% in the 1st quarter. Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC now owns 33,597 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $926,000 after buying an additional 4,240 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in GAP by 4,441.3% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 4,950 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $118,000 after buying an additional 4,841 shares in the last quarter. 58.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.