Gap Stock Hits 11-Year Low on CEO Appointment

The leader of its Old Navy Unit, Sonia Syngal, will take over as CEO later this month

Long-time underperformer Gap Inc (NYSE:GPS) is set to open at 11-year lows this morning, following news that the head of its Old Navy unit, Sonia Syngal, will assume the role of CEO on March 23, taking the place of interim CEO Robert J. Fisher. This comes just four months after former-CEO Art Peck unexpectedly resigned. The stock is off 2.8% at $12.99 in pre-market trading.

Gap has already lost over 25% this year, as it continues to chop lower. And while the equity briefly found support at its $16 level, a run-in with its 200-day moving average sent the shares south of the region late last month. Now, GPS is headed toward its third weekly loss too, already off 6.7% coming into today.

Despite a slight dip in short interest in the past two reporting periods, short sellers are firmly in control. The 37.66 million shares sold short represents a solid 17.3% of the stock's available float, or nearly seven days at GPS's average pace of trading.

Echoing this bullish sentiment is the security's Schaffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 4.75, which sits in the 98th percentile of its annual range. This implies that short-term option players have rarely been more put-heavy during the past 12 months.

Analyst sentiment shows more of the same. Of the 17 in coverage, 13 consider GPS a "hold," while the remaining four call it a "sell" or worse. There's still room for price target cuts, however. The consensus 12-month price target of $17.16 is a 28.4% premium to last nights close, and represents an area not touched by Gap since mid-February.