GAP (NYSE:GAP) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Shares of The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP) gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $24.25, but opened at $25.33. GAP shares last traded at $25.87, with a volume of 2,770,399 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GAP has been the topic of several research reports. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $35.00 price target on shares of GAP in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $26.00 target price on shares of GAP in a report on Monday, November 18th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of GAP from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on GAP from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of GAP from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.50.

GAP Trading Up 6.9 %

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 fifty day simple moving average is $21.80. The firm has a market cap of $9.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 2.35.

GAP (NYSE:GAP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.15. GAP had a return on equity of 29.03% and a net margin of 5.40%. The company had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.61 billion. Research analysts predict that The Gap, Inc. will post 2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

GAP Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 8th. GAP’s payout ratio is 27.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at GAP

In other news, CEO Horacio Barbeito sold 75,385 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total value of $1,507,700.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 31.00% of the company’s stock.

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.