Forge First Asset Management Inc. Purchases 332,600 Shares of Gildan Activewear, Inc. (NYSE:GIL)

Key Points

• Forge First Asset Management Inc. significantly increased its position in Gildan Activewear, acquiring an additional 332,600 shares and boosting its overall ownership by 713.7% in the first quarter.
• Gildan Activewear reported a quarterly earnings per share of $0.97, surpassing analyst expectations, and experienced a 6.5% increase in revenue compared to the previous year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.226, representing an annual yield of 1.8%, with an ex-dividend date set for August 21st.

Forge First Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Gildan Activewear, Inc. (NYSE:GIL - Free Report) TSE: GIL by 713.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 379,200 shares of the textile maker's stock after acquiring an additional 332,600 shares during the quarter. Gildan Activewear makes up about 7.2% of Forge First Asset Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Forge First Asset Management Inc. owned approximately 0.25% of Gildan Activewear worth $16,781,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cumberland Partners Ltd lifted its position in Gildan Activewear by 20.4% in the first quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd now owns 5,900 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $261,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Gildan Activewear by 173.6% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 12,259 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $542,000 after purchasing an additional 7,778 shares in the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Gildan Activewear during the first quarter worth about $246,000. Alberta Investment Management Corp lifted its position in shares of Gildan Activewear by 28.7% during the first quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 1,589,001 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $70,240,000 after purchasing an additional 354,201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE lifted its position in shares of Gildan Activewear by 44.7% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 13,729 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $607,000 after purchasing an additional 4,239 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.83% of the company's stock.

Gildan Activewear Price Performance

Gildan Activewear stock opened at $51.13 on Friday. Gildan Activewear, Inc. has a one year low of $37.16 and a one year high of $55.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a current ratio of 3.91. The business has a fifty day moving average of $49.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $48.26. The company has a market cap of $7.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.19.

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL - Get Free Report) TSE: GIL last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The textile maker reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.01. Gildan Activewear had a return on equity of 34.00% and a net margin of 14.55%. The company had revenue of $918.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $908.41 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.74 earnings per share. Gildan Activewear's quarterly revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a $0.226 dividend. This represents a $0.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Gildan Activewear's dividend payout ratio is presently 28.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GIL. CIBC increased their price target on shares of Gildan Activewear from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "outperformer" rating in a research report on Friday. TD Securities upped their target price on shares of Gildan Activewear from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Gildan Activewear from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Gildan Activewear from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, National Bankshares upped their target price on shares of Gildan Activewear from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $60.92.

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.

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