Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL) Given Average Rating of "Buy" by Brokerages

Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL - Get Free Report) TSE: GIL has earned a consensus rating of "Buy" from the nine ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $60.00.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Gildan Activewear from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. TD Securities upped their price objective 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. CIBC raised their target price on shares of Gildan Activewear from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Gildan Activewear from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of Gildan Activewear from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th.

Institutional Trading of Gildan Activewear

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Gildan Activewear during the 4th quarter worth approximately $97,275,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Gildan Activewear by 604.1% during the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,850,971 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $86,999,000 after purchasing an additional 1,588,071 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in Gildan Activewear by 276.9% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,769,634 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $83,394,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300,121 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Gildan Activewear by 545.1% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,210,314 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $57,403,000 after buying an additional 1,022,695 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of Gildan Activewear by 776.4% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 817,204 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $38,414,000 after buying an additional 723,962 shares during the period. 82.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Gildan Activewear Stock Performance

Shares of Gildan Activewear stock traded down $0.35 during trading on Friday, hitting $40.78. 563,108 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 642,737. Gildan Activewear has a 1-year low of $32.23 and a 1-year high of $55.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $46.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $48.06. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

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

Gildan Activewear Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 2.22%. This is a positive change from Gildan Activewear's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Gildan Activewear's payout ratio is currently 36.00%.

Gildan Activewear Company Profile

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.