The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.17

The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, February 25th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be given a dividend of 0.165 per share on Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. This is a 10.0% increase from GAP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15.

GAP has a dividend payout ratio of 25.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect GAP to earn $2.14 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.66 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 30.8%.

GAP Stock Up 7.2 %

GAP stock opened at $19.13 on Monday. GAP has a fifty-two week low of $16.99 and a fifty-two week high of $26.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.54. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $21.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.52. The stock has a market cap of $7.17 billion, a PE ratio of 8.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 2.14.

GAP (NYSE:GAP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.18. GAP had a return on equity of 29.03% and a net margin of 5.40%. The business had revenue of $4.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.07 billion. Research analysts predict that GAP will post 2.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on GAP shares. UBS Group dropped their price objective on GAP from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of GAP in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of GAP from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of GAP from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of GAP from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, GAP presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.25.

Insider Transactions at GAP

In other news, insider Sarah Gilligan sold 29,813 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.34, for a total transaction of $606,396.42. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,575.56. This trade represents a 91.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Katrina O’connell sold 80,029 shares of GAP stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.35, for a total value of $1,628,590.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 8,290 shares in the company, valued at $168,701.50. This trade represents a 90.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 177,495 shares of company stock valued at $3,598,459. Insiders own 31.00% of the company’s stock.

About GAP

Gap, Inc operates as a global apparel retail company, which offers clothing, apparel, accessories, and personal care products for men, women, and children. The firm operates through the following segments: Gap Global, Old Navy Global, Banana Republic Global, Athleta, and Other. The Gap Global segment includes apparel and accessories for men and women under the Gap brand, along with the GapKids, BabyGap, GapMaternity, GapBody, and GapFit collections.