Legal & General Group Plc Makes New $42.87 Million Investment in Gildan Activewear, Inc. $GIL

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc acquired 831,742 shares of Gildan Activewear worth approximately $42.9 million, representing about 0.45% of the company. Institutional investors collectively own 82.83% of Gildan’s outstanding shares.
• Analyst sentiment remains favorable, with 12 Buy ratings and three Holds producing a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an $80 average price target.
• Gildan exceeded quarterly EPS expectations, reporting $1.28 versus $1.11 expected, while revenue rose 72.3% year over year to $1.58 billion. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.249 per share, an annualized yield of approximately 1.9%.

Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in Gildan Activewear, Inc. (NYSE:GIL - Free Report) TSE: GIL during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 831,742 shares of the textile maker's stock, valued at approximately $42,866,000. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.45% of Gildan Activewear as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in GIL. Barington Companies Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Gildan Activewear in the 4th quarter valued at about $15,941,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in Gildan Activewear by 15.7% during the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,706,078 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $373,122,000 after purchasing an additional 909,001 shares in the last quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Gildan Activewear in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,104,000. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. acquired a new position in Gildan Activewear in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,353,000. Finally, Hodges Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Gildan Activewear by 103.5% in the 4th quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 205,154 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $12,814,000 after buying an additional 104,354 shares in the last quarter. 82.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on GIL shares. TD Securities restated a "buy" rating on shares of Gildan Activewear in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Zacks Research upgraded Gildan Activewear from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Gildan Activewear in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $83.00 price target on Gildan Activewear and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $77.00 price target on shares of Gildan Activewear in a report on Friday, May 1st. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Gildan Activewear currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $80.00.

Gildan Activewear Trading Down 0.4%

NYSE:GIL opened at $53.04 on Friday. The company's 50 day moving average is $53.80 and its 200-day moving average is $58.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Gildan Activewear, Inc. has a 12 month low of $46.55 and a 12 month high of $73.69. The firm has a market cap of $9.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 102.00 and a beta of 1.11.

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL - Get Free Report) TSE: GIL last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The textile maker reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.17. Gildan Activewear had a net margin of 1.28% and a return on equity of 21.03%. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.61 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. Gildan Activewear's quarterly revenue was up 72.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Gildan Activewear, Inc. will post 4.67 EPS for the current year.

Gildan Activewear Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a dividend of $0.249 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Gildan Activewear's payout ratio is currently 192.31%.

Gildan Activewear Profile

Gildan Activewear Inc NYSE: GIL is a vertically integrated manufacturer and wholesaler of branded basic apparel, including activewear, socks, hosiery and underwear. Headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, the company produces a wide range of products such as T-shirts, fleece garments, sport shirts, performance wear, and shapewear under its Gildan, Anvil, Comfort Colors, Gold Toe, Peds and Silks brands. Leveraging its in-house knitting, dyeing, cut-and-sew and finishing operations, Gildan supplies blank apparel to screen printers, promotional product distributors and major retailers around the world.

Since its founding in 1984 by Glenn J.

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