Bank of Nova Scotia Decreases Stake in Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL)

Bank of Nova Scotia lowered its position in shares of Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL - Free Report) TSE: GIL by 38.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 444,310 shares of the textile maker's stock after selling 276,894 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia owned 0.29% of Gildan Activewear worth $20,907,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Gildan Activewear in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in shares of Gildan Activewear by 61.8% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 872 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 333 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Gildan Activewear by 500.0% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 894 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 745 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Gildan Activewear by 899.0% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,009 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 908 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in Gildan Activewear by 561.9% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 1,423 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 1,208 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.83% of the company's stock.

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Gildan Activewear Price Performance

NYSE:GIL traded up $0.09 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $41.58. 431,151 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 646,574. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The firm's 50-day moving average is $47.80 and its 200-day moving average is $48.27. The stock has a market cap of $6.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.16. Gildan Activewear Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.23 and a 1-year high of $55.39.

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL - Get Free Report) TSE: GIL last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The textile maker reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.13 by ($0.30). The company had revenue of $822.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $805.75 million. Gildan Activewear had a net margin of 12.26% and a return on equity of 28.80%. The firm's revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.75 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Gildan Activewear Inc. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gildan Activewear Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th were given a dividend of $0.226 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.17%. This is a positive change from Gildan Activewear's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Gildan Activewear's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. TD Securities boosted their target price on shares of Gildan Activewear from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Gildan Activewear from $60.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. CIBC upped their target price on shares of Gildan Activewear from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Gildan Activewear from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Gildan Activewear from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $60.00.

About Gildan Activewear

Gildan Activewear Inc manufactures and sells various apparel products in the United States, North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America. It provides various activewear products, including T-shirts, fleece tops and bottoms, and sports shirts under the Gildan, Gildan Performance, Gildan Hammer, Glidan Softstyle, Gildan Heavy Cotton, Gildan Ultra Cotton, Gildan DryBlend, Gildan HeavyBlend, Comfort Colors, and American Apparel brands.