Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Buys 154,345 Shares of Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL)

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its stake in Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) by 14.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,196,560 shares of the textile maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 154,345 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.’s holdings in Gildan Activewear were worth $44,429,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Addenda Capital Inc. grew its position in Gildan Activewear by 0.4% during the first quarter. Addenda Capital Inc. now owns 212,701 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $7,898,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Gildan Activewear by 101.7% during the first quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 64,268 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $2,386,000 after acquiring an additional 32,397 shares during the last quarter. Cooper Financial Group grew its position in Gildan Activewear by 9.7% during the first quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 20,830 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $773,000 after acquiring an additional 1,835 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in Gildan Activewear during the first quarter valued at approximately $122,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in Gildan Activewear during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,690,000. 82.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Gildan Activewear Stock Performance

Shares of GIL stock opened at $38.08 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.86, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.43. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $36.36 and a 200 day moving average of $35.01. Gildan Activewear Inc. has a 52 week low of $26.99 and a 52 week high of $39.07.

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The textile maker reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $695.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $692.94 million. Gildan Activewear had a return on equity of 24.00% and a net margin of 16.14%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Gildan Activewear Inc. will post 2.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Gildan Activewear Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd were given a dividend of $0.205 per share. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 22nd. Gildan Activewear’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on GIL shares. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on shares of Gildan Activewear from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. TD Securities increased their price objective on Gildan Activewear from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on Gildan Activewear from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $41.00 price objective on shares of Gildan Activewear in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Gildan Activewear currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $41.95.

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.