Gildan Activewear Inc. (TSE:GIL) Given Average Rating of "Buy" by Analysts

Shares of Gildan Activewear Inc. (TSE:GIL - Get Free Report) NYSE: GIL have been assigned an average rating of "Buy" from the six ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is C$68.50.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Desjardins lifted their price objective on Gildan Activewear from C$82.00 to C$87.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. UBS Group raised Gildan Activewear from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, National Bankshares lifted their price objective on Gildan Activewear from C$78.00 to C$83.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th.

Insider Transactions at Gildan Activewear

In other Gildan Activewear news, Senior Officer Michael Schroeder sold 4,184 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$74.31, for a total value of C$310,923.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 51 shares in the company, valued at C$3,789.94. This trade represents a 98.80 % decrease in their position. Also, Senior Officer John Maness sold 1,661 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$68.77, for a total value of C$114,234.28. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 110,144 shares of company stock worth $8,568,586. 2.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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Gildan Activewear Stock Performance

Shares of GIL traded down C$0.55 during midday trading on Friday, reaching C$66.30. 381,998 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 368,151. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 101.26. Gildan Activewear has a twelve month low of C$44.23 and a twelve month high of C$79.11. The company has a market cap of C$7.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.78, a PEG ratio of 4.55 and a beta of 1.64. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is C$72.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$68.32.

Gildan Activewear (TSE:GIL - Get Free Report) NYSE: GIL last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported C$0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of C$0.82 by C$0.01. Gildan Activewear had a return on equity of 23.10% and a net margin of 13.05%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.75 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Gildan Activewear will post 4.5460385 earnings per share for the current year.

Gildan Activewear Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.226 per share. This is an increase from Gildan Activewear's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.36%. Gildan Activewear's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.76%.

Gildan Activewear Company Profile

Gildan is a vertically integrated designer and manufacturer of basic apparel, including T-shirts, underwear, socks, and hosiery. Its primary market is the sale of blank T-shirts to wholesalers and printers (printwear). Gildan also sells branded clothing through retail and direct-to-consumer channels.