Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec Takes $601.93 Million Position in Gildan Activewear, Inc. $GIL

Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec purchased a new position in shares of Gildan Activewear, Inc. (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 11,679,294 shares of the textile maker’s stock, valued at approximately $601,931,000. Gildan Activewear makes up 0.9% of Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec’s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec owned 0.06% of Gildan Activewear at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new position in shares of Gildan Activewear in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $573,363,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Gildan Activewear during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $42,866,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in Gildan Activewear during the second quarter worth $234,764,000. Goodnow Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in Gildan Activewear in the second quarter worth $29,619,000. Finally, SaddleRock Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Gildan Activewear in the second quarter worth $5,653,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.83% of the company’s stock.

Gildan Activewear Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of Gildan Activewear stock opened at $54.60 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.11 billion, a PE ratio of 105.00 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.93 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $53.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $58.39. Gildan Activewear, Inc. has a 52-week low of $46.55 and a 52-week high of $73.69.

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The textile maker reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.17. Gildan Activewear had a net margin of 1.28% and a return on equity of 21.03%. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.61 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 72.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Gildan Activewear, Inc. will post 4.67 EPS for the current year.

Gildan Activewear Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a $0.249 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Gildan Activewear’s payout ratio is presently 192.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $82.00 price objective (up from $78.00) on shares of Gildan Activewear in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus set a $83.00 target price on Gildan Activewear and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Gildan Activewear in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $77.00 price target on shares of Gildan Activewear in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Scotiabank reissued a “sector outperform” rating and issued a $67.00 price target (up from $65.00) on shares of Gildan Activewear in a report on Friday, July 31st. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Gildan Activewear currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $80.00.

About Gildan Activewear

Gildan Activewear Inc (NYSE:GIL) is a vertically integrated manufacturer and wholesaler of branded basic apparel, including activewear, socks, hosiery and underwear. Headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, the company produces a wide range of products such as T-shirts, fleece garments, sport shirts, performance wear, and shapewear under its Gildan, Anvil, Comfort Colors, Gold Toe, Peds and Silks brands. Leveraging its in-house knitting, dyeing, cut-and-sew and finishing operations, Gildan supplies blank apparel to screen printers, promotional product distributors and major retailers around the world.

Since its founding in 1984 by Glenn J.