Gap Inc. (GPS)

Gap Inc. (GPS), which announces third-quarter results after today's closing bell, just declared a quarterly dividend of $0.085 per share, which translates into an industry-leading dividend yield of 1.5%. The company also reported sales growth for the month of October.

Company Description

Gap Inc. is a global specialty retailer that sells clothing, accessories and personal care products for men, women, children and babies under the Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic, Piperlime and Athleta brands. The company operates stores in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Ireland and Japan.

Gap also has franchise agreements with unaffiliated franchisees to operate Gap and Banana Republic stores in many other countries around the world. Under these agreements, third parties operate or will operate stores that sell apparel, purchased from Gap, under Gap’s brand names.

Estimates are Bullish Ahead of Earnings Announcement

Analysts polled by Zacks have been upbeat on GPS ahead of today's third-quarter report, pegging earnings at 43 cents per share for the third quarter. Last month, analysts were forecasting 37 cents.

For the current full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.49 per share was increased from last month's $1.40.

For the following year, Zacks analysts boosted the earnings forecast from $1.53 per share to $1.62 over the past 30 days.

Rewarding Shareholders with Competitive Income

The company just declared a quarterly dividend of $0.085 per share, which translates into an industry-leading dividend yield of 1.5%.

The dividend is payable on January 27 to shareholders of record at the close of business on January 6.

Stellar Sales

Gap's October net sales of $1.14 billion came in 5% above last year's $1.08 billion. Comparable store sales spiked 4% year-over-year.

Read the full analyst report on GPS