Allianz Asset Management GmbH Buys 7,763 Shares of Gildan Activewear, Inc. (NYSE:GIL)

Key Points

• Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its stake in Gildan Activewear by 37.5%, acquiring an additional 7,763 shares, bringing its total holdings to 28,479 shares valued at approximately $1.26 million.
• Multiple hedge funds, including American Century Companies Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co., have also significantly increased their positions in Gildan Activewear during the fourth quarter, indicating strong institutional interest.
• Gildan Activewear reported a quarterly earnings per share of $0.97, exceeding expectations, while projecting an overall EPS of $3.48 for the current fiscal year.

Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its stake in shares of Gildan Activewear, Inc. (NYSE:GIL - Free Report) TSE: GIL by 37.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,479 shares of the textile maker's stock after acquiring an additional 7,763 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH's holdings in Gildan Activewear were worth $1,259,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GIL. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Gildan Activewear by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 163,967 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $7,717,000 after acquiring an additional 19,877 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Gildan Activewear by 65.4% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 56,419 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $2,655,000 after acquiring an additional 22,313 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Gildan Activewear by 40.7% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 814,127 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $38,305,000 after acquiring an additional 235,405 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its holdings in shares of Gildan Activewear by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 78,548 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $3,695,000 after acquiring an additional 5,089 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its holdings in shares of Gildan Activewear by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 43,012 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $2,024,000 after acquiring an additional 2,593 shares in the last quarter. 82.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on GIL shares. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Gildan Activewear from $56.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. National Bankshares upped their price objective on shares of Gildan Activewear from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Gildan Activewear from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Friday. CIBC upped their price objective on shares of Gildan Activewear from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "outperformer" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Gildan Activewear from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, Gildan Activewear presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $62.45.

Gildan Activewear Stock Up 1.2%

GIL stock traded up $0.62 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $51.13. The company's stock had a trading volume of 781,511 shares, compared to its average volume of 506,649. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 3.91 and a quick ratio of 1.59. Gildan Activewear, Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.16 and a twelve month high of $55.39. The company's fifty day moving average price is $49.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $48.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.23, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.17.

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL - Get Free Report) TSE: GIL last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The textile maker reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.01. Gildan Activewear had a net margin of 14.55% and a return on equity of 34.00%. The firm had revenue of $918.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $908.41 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.74 EPS. The company's revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Gildan Activewear, Inc. will post 3.48 EPS for the current year.

Gildan Activewear Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a $0.226 dividend. This represents a $0.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Gildan Activewear's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.57%.

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.