BNP Paribas Financial Markets Invests $1.85 Million in Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets bought a new stake in Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL - Free Report) TSE: GIL during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 39,298 shares of the textile maker's stock, valued at approximately $1,849,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in GIL. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Gildan Activewear in the fourth quarter valued at $97,275,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in Gildan Activewear by 604.1% in the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,850,971 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $86,999,000 after buying an additional 1,588,071 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Gildan Activewear by 276.9% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,769,634 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $83,394,000 after buying an additional 1,300,121 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake in Gildan Activewear by 545.1% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,210,314 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $57,403,000 after buying an additional 1,022,695 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in Gildan Activewear by 776.4% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 817,204 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $38,414,000 after buying an additional 723,962 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.83% of the company's stock.

Gildan Activewear Stock Up 0.1%

NYSE GIL traded up $0.07 during trading on Friday, reaching $48.99. 437,720 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 641,626. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market cap of $7.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.21. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $44.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $47.84. Gildan Activewear Inc. has a 12-month low of $35.51 and a 12-month high of $55.39.

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL - Get Free Report) TSE: GIL last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The textile maker reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $715.29 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.59 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Gildan Activewear Inc. will post 3.48 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th will be given a $0.226 dividend. This represents a $0.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 20th. Gildan Activewear's payout ratio is currently 34.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on GIL. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on shares of Gildan Activewear from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. UBS Group raised their price target 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. Citigroup raised their price target 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. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Gildan Activewear from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Gildan Activewear has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $58.20.

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.