Bank of Nova Scotia Purchases 19,281 Shares of Gildan Activewear, Inc. (NYSE:GIL)

Key Points

• Bank of Nova Scotia has increased its holdings in Gildan Activewear by 4.3% during the first quarter, owning a total of 463,591 shares valued at approximately $20.5 million.
• Multiple analysts have raised their price targets for Gildan Activewear, with TD Securities increasing it from $56.00 to $60.00 and UBS Group setting it at $70.00, reflecting a strong consensus of a "Buy" rating.
• Gildan Activewear has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.226 per share, with a dividend yield of 1.8%, payable on September 15th to investors of record on August 21st.

Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its holdings in shares of Gildan Activewear, Inc. (NYSE:GIL - Free Report) TSE: GIL by 4.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 463,591 shares of the textile maker's stock after buying an additional 19,281 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia owned approximately 0.31% of Gildan Activewear worth $20,498,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GIL. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Gildan Activewear during the first quarter worth about $1,072,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. bought a new stake in Gildan Activewear during the first quarter worth about $474,000. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. lifted its stake in Gildan Activewear by 55.6% during the fourth quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. now owns 26,450 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $1,244,000 after purchasing an additional 9,450 shares during the last quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. lifted its stake in Gildan Activewear by 250.0% during the fourth quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. now owns 27,721 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $1,304,000 after purchasing an additional 19,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its stake in Gildan Activewear by 262.4% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 45,451 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $2,138,000 after purchasing an additional 32,911 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.83% of the company's stock.

Gildan Activewear Stock Up 0.9%

GIL traded up $0.46 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $52.54. 591,535 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 527,360. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $49.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $48.26. The company has a current ratio of 3.87, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. Gildan Activewear, Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.16 and a 12-month high of $55.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.68, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.17.

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL - Get Free Report) TSE: GIL last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The textile maker reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.01. Gildan Activewear had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 14.55%. The business had revenue of $918.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $908.41 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.74 EPS. The company's revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Gildan Activewear, Inc. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gildan Activewear Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.226 per share. This represents a $0.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Gildan Activewear's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on Gildan Activewear in a research note on Tuesday. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $61.00 target price for the company. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Gildan Activewear from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. UBS Group boosted their target price on Gildan Activewear from $56.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Barclays boosted their target price on Gildan Activewear from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, TD Securities boosted their target price on Gildan Activewear from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $62.33.

Gildan Activewear 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.