Cerity Partners LLC Boosts Stake in Gildan Activewear, Inc. (NYSE:GIL)

Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in Gildan Activewear, Inc. (NYSE:GIL - Free Report) TSE: GIL by 56.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,750 shares of the textile maker's stock after acquiring an additional 7,164 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in Gildan Activewear were worth $873,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Gildan Activewear in the 4th quarter valued at $97,275,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings 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 valued at $83,394,000 after buying an additional 1,300,121 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings 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 valued at $38,414,000 after buying an additional 723,962 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in Gildan Activewear by 5,996.0% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 466,342 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $21,935,000 after buying an additional 458,692 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in 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 valued at $78,571,000 after buying an additional 272,627 shares in the last quarter. 82.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Gildan Activewear Stock Performance

Shares of GIL stock traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $52.20. The company had a trading volume of 307,373 shares, compared to its average volume of 470,665. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $49.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.14. Gildan Activewear, Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.16 and a 52-week high of $55.39. The stock has a market cap of $7.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.15, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.19. 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 (NYSE:GIL - Get Free Report) TSE: GIL last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The textile maker reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.02. Gildan Activewear had a return on equity of 30.61% and a net margin of 12.38%. The company had revenue of $711.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $715.29 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.59 EPS. The company's revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Gildan Activewear, Inc. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gildan Activewear Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th were paid a $0.226 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 20th. This represents a $0.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.73%. Gildan Activewear's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on GIL shares. Barclays started coverage on Gildan Activewear in a report on Monday, April 28th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $51.00 price target for the company. CIBC decreased their price objective on Gildan Activewear from $60.00 to $56.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. TD Securities lifted their price objective on Gildan Activewear from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded Gildan Activewear to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $55.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Gildan Activewear presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $57.91.

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.