Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL - Get Free Report) TSE: GIL was the target of a significant drop in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,880,000 shares, a drop of 6.0% from the November 15th total of 2,000,000 shares. Currently, 1.3% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 581,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.2 days.

Gildan Activewear Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GIL traded down $0.18 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $48.46. 317,929 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 709,583. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The business's fifty day moving average is $48.59 and its 200-day moving average is $44.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.17, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.40. Gildan Activewear has a one year low of $30.68 and a one year high of $50.60.

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL - Get Free Report) TSE: GIL last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The textile maker reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.85. Gildan Activewear had a return on equity of 26.88% and a net margin of 13.06%. The business had revenue of $891.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $882.85 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.74 EPS. Gildan Activewear's revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Gildan Activewear will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gildan Activewear Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were given a dividend of $0.152 per share. This represents a $0.61 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. Gildan Activewear's payout ratio is 32.41%.

Institutional Trading of Gildan Activewear

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Simcoe Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Gildan Activewear by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter. Simcoe Capital Management LLC now owns 2,387,865 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $112,492,000 after buying an additional 226,695 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Gildan Activewear in the 3rd quarter valued at $544,000. Tacita Capital Inc increased its position in shares of Gildan Activewear by 1,025.5% during the 3rd quarter. Tacita Capital Inc now owns 13,056 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $615,000 after purchasing an additional 11,896 shares in the last quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Gildan Activewear during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,425,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Gildan Activewear by 7,709.2% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 125,181 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $5,899,000 after buying an additional 123,578 shares in the last quarter. 82.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. CIBC lifted their target price on shares of Gildan Activewear from $48.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on Gildan Activewear from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Gildan Activewear from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Gildan Activewear from $47.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, TD Securities upped their price objective on shares of Gildan Activewear from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $51.05.

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.