Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the thirteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $44.50.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Gildan Activewear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $39.00 to $51.00 in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted 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. 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 research note on Friday, August 2nd.

Institutional Trading of Gildan Activewear

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in GIL. Cooke & Bieler LP increased its holdings in shares of Gildan Activewear by 2.7% in 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 in the last quarter. Browning West LP raised its holdings in Gildan Activewear by 30.0% during the 4th quarter. Browning West LP now owns 8,640,448 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $285,653,000 after buying an additional 1,994,900 shares during the period. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Gildan Activewear by 1.5% in the second quarter. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,907,144 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $110,197,000 after buying an additional 42,094 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in Gildan Activewear by 14.4% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,568,733 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $97,290,000 after buying an additional 324,304 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $70,696,000 after buying an additional 407,113 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.83% of the company’s stock.

Gildan Activewear Price Performance

Gildan Activewear stock opened at $47.11 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $43.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 2.35. The firm has a market cap of $7.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.43. Gildan Activewear has a 52 week low of $27.24 and a 52 week high of $47.75.

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The textile maker reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.03. Gildan Activewear had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 24.96%. The firm had revenue of $862.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $851.10 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.63 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Gildan Activewear will post 2.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gildan Activewear Announces Dividend

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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.74%. Gildan Activewear’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.70%.

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.