Bank of America Corp DE Grows Position in Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL)

Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL - Free Report) TSE: GIL by 8.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,502,417 shares of the textile maker's stock after purchasing an additional 112,894 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned approximately 0.99% of Gildan Activewear worth $70,689,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of GIL. Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in Gildan Activewear during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in Gildan Activewear by 61.8% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 872 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 333 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Gildan Activewear by 500.0% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 894 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 745 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Gildan Activewear by 899.0% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,009 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 908 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in Gildan Activewear by 561.9% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 1,423 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 1,208 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.83% of the company's stock.

Gildan Activewear Price Performance

Shares of GIL stock traded up $0.75 on Friday, reaching $50.09. The company's stock had a trading volume of 454,823 shares, compared to its average volume of 648,497. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $44.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.82. Gildan Activewear Inc. has a 1 year low of $35.33 and a 1 year high of $55.39. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The company has a market capitalization of $7.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.21.

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL - Get Free Report) TSE: GIL last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The textile maker reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.02. Gildan Activewear had a net margin of 12.26% and a return on equity of 28.80%. The firm had revenue of $711.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $715.29 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.59 earnings per share. Gildan Activewear's revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Gildan Activewear Inc. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gildan Activewear Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.226 per share. This represents a $0.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 20th. Gildan Activewear's payout ratio is 34.75%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on GIL shares. Barclays started coverage on shares of Gildan Activewear in a report on Monday, April 28th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $51.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of 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 raised their target price on shares of Gildan Activewear from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Gildan Activewear from $60.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Gildan Activewear from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $58.20.

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.