Gap Sees Many Analysts Chiming In

If there was a pleasant surprise in retail last week, it was Thursday’s announcement from Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) that the company had posted a same-store sales increase of 2% in June, the first time in 15 consecutive months that Gap has posted an increase in comparable sales. Analyst firm Retail Metrics had been expecting a decline of 3.6%.

Same-store sales rose 5% at Old Navy stores, dropped 4% at Banana Republic stores and fell 1% at Gap stores. Banana Republic stores were expected to post a double-digit decline in comparable sales and Gap stores were forecast to show a drop of 2.6%. The store’s chief financial officer said that Old Navy’s improvement was partly driven by an increase in traffic, always a good sign for retailers.

While investors rewarded the company with a 5% share price increase on Friday, analysts remain cautious on the stock. We noted several price target increases, but ratings were unchanged. After all, one good month following 14 straight bad ones is hardly a reason to get giddy. Most believed that the shift of the Memorial Day holiday into June was the biggest reason for the improvement.

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Here are the price target changes we noted:

• Baird raised its price target from $20 to $23 and maintained its Neutral rating.
• Citigroup increased its price target from $19 to $22.
• Deutsche Bank lifted its price target from $17 to $18.
• Goldman Sachs raised its price target from $18 to $19.
• Nomura raised its price target to $22 from $18.
• SunTrust Robinson Humphrey lifted its price target from $18 to $21.

Gap stock closed Friday at $22.70, up 4.95% on the day, in a 52-week range of $17.00 to $38.50. The consensus price target on the stock is $20.38.

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