Principal Financial Group Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 562,030 shares of the textile maker’s stock after selling 6,300 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.36% of Gildan Activewear worth $26,484,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Gildan Activewear in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Gildan Activewear by 96.1% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 810 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 397 shares during the last quarter. Natixis purchased a new position in Gildan Activewear during the first quarter worth $51,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Gildan Activewear in the second quarter worth $51,000. Finally, Tobam purchased a new stake in shares of Gildan Activewear in the second quarter valued at $53,000. 82.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Gildan Activewear Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:GIL opened at $48.85 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.31, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.44. Gildan Activewear Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.68 and a 1 year high of $50.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 2.31.

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The textile maker reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.85. The company had revenue of $891.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $882.85 million. Gildan Activewear had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 26.88%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.74 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Gildan Activewear Inc. will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Gildan Activewear Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.152 per share. This represents a $0.61 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Gildan Activewear’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GIL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on shares of Gildan Activewear from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. CIBC boosted their price objective on shares of Gildan Activewear from $48.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Gildan Activewear from $47.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Gildan Activewear from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Gildan Activewear from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Gildan Activewear presently 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.