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

Shares of Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twelve ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $41.25.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GIL. CIBC increased their target price on Gildan Activewear from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Gildan Activewear from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Gildan Activewear from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. UBS Group lowered shares of Gildan Activewear from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $40.00 to $37.00 in a report on Friday, January 5th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Gildan Activewear from $39.50 to $40.50 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gildan Activewear

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GIL. Natixis Advisors L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Gildan Activewear by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 13,204 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $370,000 after buying an additional 324 shares in the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Gildan Activewear by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 27,704 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $776,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in Gildan Activewear by 2.5% during the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 18,148 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $585,000 after acquiring an additional 435 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its holdings in Gildan Activewear by 86.5% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,074 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in shares of Gildan Activewear by 2.2% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 29,049 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $937,000 after purchasing an additional 637 shares in the last quarter. 82.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Gildan Activewear Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of GIL opened at $35.33 on Tuesday. Gildan Activewear has a fifty-two week low of $26.98 and a fifty-two week high of $38.87. The firm has a market cap of $5.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.66, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.38. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $35.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 2.33.

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The textile maker reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.03. Gildan Activewear had a net margin of 16.70% and a return on equity of 23.19%. The company had revenue of $782.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $753.35 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.65 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Gildan Activewear will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Gildan Activewear Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were given a $0.205 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.32%. This is a positive change from Gildan Activewear’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. Gildan Activewear’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.06%.

About Gildan Activewear

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.