Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Boosts Stock Position in Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL)

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL - Free Report) TSE: GIL by 2.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,618,420 shares of the textile maker's stock after purchasing an additional 44,725 shares during the quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. owned approximately 1.03% of Gildan Activewear worth $76,244,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Intact Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Gildan Activewear by 204.8% during the second quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 881,100 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $33,416,000 after acquiring an additional 591,980 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in shares of Gildan Activewear by 43.8% during the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,762,761 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $65,451,000 after acquiring an additional 537,215 shares during the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Gildan Activewear by 28.0% during the second quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,863,618 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $70,696,000 after acquiring an additional 407,113 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of Gildan Activewear by 14.4% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,568,733 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $97,290,000 after acquiring an additional 324,304 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP raised its position in shares of Gildan Activewear by 2.7% during the second quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 10,252,785 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $388,786,000 after acquiring an additional 271,273 shares during the last quarter. 82.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Gildan Activewear Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:GIL traded up $0.16 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $48.29. 438,590 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 614,853. The stock has a market cap of $7.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. Gildan Activewear Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.68 and a 12-month high of $50.58. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $47.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.86.

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL - Get Free Report) TSE: GIL last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The textile maker reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.85. The company had revenue of $891.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $882.85 million. Gildan Activewear had a return on equity of 26.88% and a net margin of 13.06%. Gildan Activewear's quarterly revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.74 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Gildan Activewear Inc. will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current 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 given a $0.152 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $0.61 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.26%. Gildan Activewear's dividend payout ratio is currently 32.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GIL. Citigroup lifted their target price on Gildan Activewear from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. TD Securities lifted their target price on Gildan Activewear from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Gildan Activewear from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. 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 report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, 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 report on Friday, August 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Gildan Activewear has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $50.85.

Gildan Activewear 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.