PCJ Investment Counsel Ltd. Invests $2.17 Million in Gildan Activewear, Inc. (NYSE:GIL)

Key Points

• PCJ Investment Counsel Ltd. has invested approximately $2.17 million in Gildan Activewear, purchasing 49,080 shares of the company.
• Gildan Activewear reported a net margin of 14.55% and earnings per share of $0.97 for the last quarter, exceeding estimates.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.226 per share, set to be paid on September 15th, with a 1.7% dividend yield.

PCJ Investment Counsel Ltd. acquired a new stake in Gildan Activewear, Inc. (NYSE:GIL - Free Report) TSE: GIL in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 49,080 shares of the textile maker's stock, valued at approximately $2,170,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Syon Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Gildan Activewear by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 6,524 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $307,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares during the period. Haven Private LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Gildan Activewear by 3.4% in the first quarter. Haven Private LLC now owns 8,653 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $383,000 after acquiring an additional 284 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Gildan Activewear by 15.5% in the first quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 3,545 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $157,000 after acquiring an additional 476 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Gildan Activewear by 69.3% in the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,336 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 547 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Gildan Activewear by 510.7% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 745 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 623 shares during the period. 82.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Gildan Activewear Price Performance

Gildan Activewear stock traded down $0.73 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $51.58. The company's stock had a trading volume of 381,495 shares, compared to its average volume of 548,143. Gildan Activewear, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.16 and a fifty-two week high of $55.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 3.87. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $49.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.73 billion, a PE ratio of 16.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.17.

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 34.31% 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. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Gildan Activewear, Inc. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Gildan Activewear Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $0.226 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $0.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. Gildan Activewear's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Gildan Activewear from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Barclays increased their price objective on Gildan Activewear from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on Gildan Activewear in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $61.00 price target for the company. UBS Group increased their price target on Gildan Activewear from $56.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, National Bankshares increased their price target on Gildan Activewear from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $62.33.

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.