Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 48,430 Shares of Gildan Activewear, Inc. (NYSE:GIL)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Gildan Activewear, Inc. (NYSE:GIL - Free Report) TSE: GIL by 10.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 428,400 shares of the textile maker's stock after selling 48,430 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.28% of Gildan Activewear worth $18,937,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Gildan Activewear in the first quarter valued at $474,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Gildan Activewear in the first quarter valued at $1,072,000. Achmea Investment Management B.V. grew its position in shares of Gildan Activewear by 308.6% in the first quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 77,896 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $3,444,000 after purchasing an additional 58,830 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Gildan Activewear by 92.7% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 27,405 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $1,213,000 after purchasing an additional 13,182 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Gildan Activewear by 12.6% during the first quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,190,773 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $52,651,000 after buying an additional 133,253 shares in the last quarter. 82.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Gildan Activewear Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:GIL traded down $0.29 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $51.02. 464,361 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 631,826. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.68 billion, a PE ratio of 19.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.19. The business's 50 day moving average is $48.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 3.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. 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 announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The textile maker reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $711.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $715.29 million. Gildan Activewear had a return on equity of 30.61% and a net margin of 12.38%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.59 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Gildan Activewear, Inc. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Gildan Activewear Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 20th were paid a $0.226 dividend. This represents a $0.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 20th. Gildan Activewear's payout ratio is currently 34.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on GIL. Scotiabank raised Gildan Activewear to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $55.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. TD Securities boosted their price target 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 assumed coverage on shares of Gildan Activewear in a research note on Monday, April 28th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $51.00 price target for the company. Finally, CIBC lowered their price target on shares of Gildan Activewear from $60.00 to $56.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Gildan Activewear presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $57.91.

Gildan Activewear 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.