The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GPS) Plans $0.15 Quarterly Dividend

The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GPS) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, August 13th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be paid a dividend of 0.15 per share by the apparel retailer on Wednesday, October 30th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.68%.

GAP has raised its dividend by an average of 35.3% per year over the last three years. GAP has a payout ratio of 30.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect GAP to earn $1.94 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 30.9%.

GAP Trading Down 3.0 %

NYSE:GPS traded down $0.70 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $22.41. 2,886,434 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,653,717. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.84, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 2.38. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $23.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.60. GAP has a 52 week low of $9.38 and a 52 week high of $30.75.

GAP (NYSE:GPS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The apparel retailer reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $3.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.29 billion. GAP had a net margin of 4.52% and a return on equity of 27.57%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.01 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that GAP will post 1.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group upped their price target on shares of GAP from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of GAP from $23.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Daiwa America raised shares of GAP to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of GAP from $24.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of GAP from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $21.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, GAP has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $26.51.

Insider Transactions at GAP

In other news, CFO Katrina O’connell sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.01, for a total value of $580,200.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Tracy Gardner sold 2,934 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.48, for a total value of $68,890.32. Following the sale, the director now owns 51,901 shares in the company, valued at $1,218,635.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Katrina O’connell sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.01, for a total transaction of $580,200.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,132 shares of company stock worth $654,003 over the last 90 days. 30.81% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.