UBS Group Issues Positive Forecast for Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL) Stock Price

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL - Get Free Report) TSE: GIL had its target price hoisted by equities research analysts at UBS Group from $60.00 to $69.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "buy" rating on the textile maker's stock. UBS Group's target price would suggest a potential upside of 27.36% from the company's previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on GIL. CIBC lifted their price objective on shares of Gildan Activewear from $48.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. TD Securities lifted their target price on shares of Gildan Activewear from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Gildan Activewear from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Gildan Activewear from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on shares of Gildan Activewear from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $60.00.

Gildan Activewear Stock Down 1.7 %

NYSE GIL traded down $0.91 during trading on Thursday, reaching $54.18. 541,031 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 531,689. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $49.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $47.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 2.31 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Gildan Activewear has a 12-month low of $32.23 and a 12-month high of $55.39. The firm has a market cap of $8.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.41.

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL - Get Free Report) TSE: GIL last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The textile maker reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.13 by ($0.30). Gildan Activewear had a return on equity of 27.49% and a net margin of 12.26%. The firm had revenue of $822.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $805.75 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.75 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Gildan Activewear will post 3.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Gildan Activewear

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

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.