Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,140,000 shares, a decrease of 10.3% from the August 31st total of 3,500,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 607,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.2 days. Approximately 2.0% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Gildan Activewear Stock Performance

GIL stock traded down $0.65 during trading on Friday, reaching $46.85. The stock had a trading volume of 541,674 shares, compared to its average volume of 744,492. Gildan Activewear has a 52 week low of $27.24 and a 52 week high of $47.75. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $43.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.94. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market cap of $7.76 billion, a PE ratio of 15.83, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.43.

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The textile maker reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.03. Gildan Activewear had a return on equity of 24.96% and a net margin of 13.01%. The company had revenue of $862.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $851.10 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.63 earnings per share. Gildan Activewear’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Gildan Activewear will post 2.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Gildan Activewear Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd were issued a $0.205 dividend. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 22nd. Gildan Activewear’s dividend payout ratio is 27.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised Gildan Activewear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $39.00 to $51.00 in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Gildan Activewear from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Gildan Activewear from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GIL. Browning West LP lifted its holdings in Gildan Activewear by 30.0% in the fourth quarter. Browning West LP now owns 8,640,448 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $285,653,000 after acquiring an additional 1,994,900 shares during the period. Intact Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Gildan Activewear by 204.8% in the second quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 881,100 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $33,416,000 after buying an additional 591,980 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in shares of Gildan Activewear by 43.8% in 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 buying an additional 537,215 shares during the period. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Gildan Activewear by 28.0% in the second quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,863,618 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $70,696,000 after buying an additional 407,113 shares during the period. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Gildan Activewear by 31.5% in the second quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,573,695 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $59,674,000 after buying an additional 377,135 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.