BNP Paribas Financial Markets Takes Position in Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL)

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

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GIL. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Gildan Activewear in the 4th quarter worth about $97,275,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,588,071 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,300,121 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in shares of Gildan Activewear by 19.5% in the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,668,147 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $78,571,000 after purchasing an additional 272,627 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in shares of Gildan Activewear by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,625,963 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $76,423,000 after purchasing an additional 87,672 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.83% of the company's stock.

Gildan Activewear Stock Up 0.2%

NYSE:GIL traded up $0.08 on Tuesday, reaching $50.19. 737,312 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 657,157. The company has a market capitalization of $7.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.08, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Gildan Activewear Inc. has a 12 month low of $35.39 and a 12 month high of $55.39. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $44.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.83.

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL - Get Free Report) TSE: GIL last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $711.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $715.29 million. Gildan Activewear had a net margin of 12.26% and a return on equity of 28.80%. Gildan Activewear's revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.59 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Gildan Activewear Inc. will post 3.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gildan Activewear Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on GIL shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Gildan Activewear from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Stifel Nicolaus increased 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. UBS Group increased 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. CIBC decreased their price target on shares of Gildan Activewear from $60.00 to $56.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Barclays began coverage on shares of Gildan Activewear in a research note on Monday, April 28th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $51.00 price target for the company. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target 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.