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

The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GPS) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, May 7th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be given a dividend of 0.15 per share by the apparel retailer on Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.70%.

GAP has raised its dividend payment by an average of 35.3% per year over the last three years. GAP has a payout ratio of 38.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect GAP to earn $1.50 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 40.0%.

GAP Stock Performance

NYSE GPS traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $22.23. The company had a trading volume of 1,286,207 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,458,186. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.17. The stock has a market cap of $8.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 2.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. GAP has a fifty-two week low of $7.22 and a fifty-two week high of $28.59.

GAP (NYSE:GPS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The apparel retailer reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.29. GAP had a return on equity of 22.56% and a net margin of 3.37%. The firm had revenue of $4.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.22 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.75) earnings per share. GAP’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that GAP will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Katrina O’connell sold 45,266 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.58, for a total value of $1,022,106.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 5,937 shares in the company, valued at approximately $134,057.46. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Julie Gruber sold 24,180 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.00, for a total value of $556,140.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,384 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,832. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Katrina O’connell sold 45,266 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.58, for a total value of $1,022,106.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 5,937 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $134,057.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 266,723 shares of company stock worth $6,886,765. 31.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on GPS shares. Evercore ISI increased their target price on GAP from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Citigroup raised shares of GAP from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $21.00 to $28.00 in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded GAP from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $16.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Barclays lifted their target price on GAP from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded GAP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.39.

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 adult apparel and accessories; and fitness and lifestyle products for use in yoga, training, sports, travel, and everyday activities for women and girls.