Reviewing GAP (GAP) & Its Rivals
by Scott Moore · The Cerbat GemGAP (NYSE:GAP – Get Free Report) is one of 15 publicly-traded companies in the “Family clothing stores” industry, but how does it contrast to its competitors? We will compare GAP to related businesses based on the strength of its earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, dividends, risk, valuation and analyst recommendations.
Risk & Volatility
GAP has a beta of 2.35, suggesting that its stock price is 135% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, GAP’s competitors have a beta of 1.81, suggesting that their average stock price is 81% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Profitability
This table compares GAP and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| GAP | 5.05% | 28.89% | 6.92% |
| GAP Competitors | 3.12% | -376.16% | 6.89% |
Institutional & Insider Ownership
73.0% of shares of all “Family clothing stores” companies are owned by institutional investors. 12.5% of shares of all “Family clothing stores” companies are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares GAP and its competitors top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Net Income | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| GAP | $15.17 billion | $502.00 million | -0.76 |
| GAP Competitors | $10.53 billion | $637.10 million | 10.27 |
GAP has higher revenue, but lower earnings than its competitors. GAP is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.
Dividends
GAP pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. GAP pays out -2.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Family clothing stores” companies pay a dividend yield of 1.4% and pay out -173.8% of their earnings in the form of a dividend.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for GAP and its competitors, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| GAP | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2.00 |
| GAP Competitors | 359 | 2140 | 2393 | 31 | 2.43 |
GAP presently has a consensus price target of $27.00, indicating a potential upside of 30.31%. As a group, “Family clothing stores” companies have a potential upside of 15.01%. Given GAP’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe GAP is more favorable than its competitors.
Summary
GAP competitors beat GAP on 8 of the 15 factors compared.
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. The company offers its products through company-operated stores, franchise stores, websites, and third-party arrangements. It has franchise agreements to operate Old Navy, Gap, Banana Republic, and Athleta stores and websites in Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa. The Gap, Inc. was incorporated in 1969 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.