Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL) Given Average Recommendation of “Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) have received an average rating of “Buy” from the nine research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $60.00.

GIL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on shares of Gildan Activewear from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group upped their target price on Gildan Activewear from $60.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Citigroup raised their price target on Gildan Activewear from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. TD Securities boosted their price target on Gildan Activewear from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Gildan Activewear from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gildan Activewear

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GIL. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in shares of Gildan Activewear by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 13,248 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $624,000 after buying an additional 1,505 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Gildan Activewear by 96.1% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 810 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 397 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in Gildan Activewear by 191.3% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 57,538 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $2,711,000 after acquiring an additional 37,785 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Gildan Activewear in the third quarter valued at about $212,000. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Gildan Activewear in the third quarter worth about $216,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.83% of the company’s stock.

Gildan Activewear Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:GIL opened at $53.85 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $48.01. Gildan Activewear has a 52 week low of $32.23 and a 52 week high of $55.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 2.22. The company has a market cap of $8.19 billion, a PE ratio of 21.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.41.

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The textile maker reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.13 by ($0.30). Gildan Activewear had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 12.26%. The business had revenue of $822.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $805.75 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.75 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Gildan Activewear will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Gildan Activewear Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be issued a $0.226 dividend. This is a positive change from Gildan Activewear’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. Gildan Activewear’s payout ratio is 36.00%.

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.