Alberta Investment Management Corp Purchases 354,201 Shares of Gildan Activewear, Inc. (NYSE:GIL)

Key Points

• Alberta Investment Management Corp increased its stake in Gildan Activewear by 28.7%, acquiring an additional 354,201 shares for a total of approximately $70.24 million in value.
• Institutional investors hold 82.83% of Gildan Activewear’s stock, reflecting strong investor interest and trust in the company.
• Recent analyst ratings for Gildan Activewear include a highly anticipated average price target of $58, with multiple firms, including UBS and TD Securities, advising a "buy" rating.

Alberta Investment Management Corp lifted its position in shares of Gildan Activewear, Inc. (NYSE:GIL - Free Report) TSE: GIL by 28.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,589,001 shares of the textile maker's stock after purchasing an additional 354,201 shares during the quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp owned 1.05% of Gildan Activewear worth $70,240,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of GIL. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in Gildan Activewear by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,970,246 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $327,950,000 after purchasing an additional 128,674 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Gildan Activewear by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,738,691 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $121,073,000 after purchasing an additional 56,400 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in Gildan Activewear by 276.9% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,769,634 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $83,394,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300,121 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in shares of Gildan Activewear by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,625,963 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $76,423,000 after buying an additional 87,672 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Gildan Activewear by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,523,077 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $71,660,000 after buying an additional 206,569 shares during the last quarter. 82.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Gildan Activewear Price Performance

Gildan Activewear stock traded up $0.62 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $51.13. The stock had a trading volume of 781,511 shares, compared to its average volume of 506,649. The company has a current ratio of 3.91, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.17. The firm's 50 day moving average is $49.48 and its 200 day moving average is $48.25. Gildan Activewear, Inc. has a one year low of $37.16 and a one year high of $55.39.

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL - Get Free Report) TSE: GIL last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The textile maker reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $908.41 million. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.74 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Gildan Activewear, Inc. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gildan Activewear Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $0.226 per share. This represents a $0.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Gildan Activewear's payout ratio is 28.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GIL. UBS Group increased their price objective on Gildan Activewear from $56.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Gildan Activewear from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Friday. CIBC increased their target price on shares of Gildan Activewear from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "outperformer" rating in a research note on Friday. TD Securities upped their price target on shares of Gildan Activewear from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, National Bankshares increased their price objective on Gildan Activewear from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $62.45.

Gildan Activewear Company 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.