Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Stifel Nicolaus Analyst Says

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL - Free Report) TSE: GIL had its price objective boosted by Stifel Nicolaus from $54.00 to $60.00 in a report issued on Friday morning, BayStreet.CA reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the textile maker's stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Gildan Activewear from $47.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Gildan Activewear from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Citigroup lifted their target price on Gildan Activewear from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on Gildan Activewear from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, TD Securities boosted their price target on Gildan Activewear from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Gildan Activewear presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $51.05.

Gildan Activewear Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of GIL traded up $0.76 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $49.66. 531,424 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 709,643. Gildan Activewear has a 52-week low of $28.95 and a 52-week high of $49.92. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $46.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.87. The firm has a market cap of $7.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 2.35.

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL - Get Free Report) TSE: GIL last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The textile maker reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $891.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $882.85 million. Gildan Activewear had a return on equity of 24.96% and a net margin of 13.01%. Gildan Activewear's revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.74 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Gildan Activewear will post 2.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gildan Activewear Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.152 dividend. This represents a $0.61 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Gildan Activewear's dividend payout ratio is presently 33.61%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gildan Activewear

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GIL. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Gildan Activewear in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Gildan Activewear by 96.1% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 810 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 397 shares during the period. Natixis acquired a new stake in shares of Gildan Activewear in the 1st quarter worth approximately $51,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. acquired a new stake in Gildan Activewear during the 2nd quarter valued at $51,000. Finally, Tobam acquired a new stake in Gildan Activewear during the 2nd quarter valued at $53,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.83% of the company's stock.

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.