Brokerages Set Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL) Target Price at $57.91

Shares of Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL - Get Free Report) TSE: GIL have been given a consensus rating of "Buy" by the eleven brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $57.91.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GIL. TD Securities upped their price target on Gildan Activewear from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup upped their price target on Gildan Activewear from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. UBS Group upped their price target on Gildan Activewear from $60.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Gildan Activewear from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, CIBC cut their price objective on Gildan Activewear from $60.00 to $56.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th.

Gildan Activewear Stock Performance

Shares of GIL stock traded down $0.92 on Friday, hitting $47.91. The company had a trading volume of 520,612 shares, compared to its average volume of 631,615. The firm has a market cap of $7.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.20. Gildan Activewear has a twelve month low of $36.91 and a twelve month high of $55.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $45.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $47.75.

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL - Get Free Report) TSE: GIL last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The textile maker reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $711.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $715.29 million. Gildan Activewear had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 12.26%. Gildan Activewear's quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.59 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Gildan Activewear will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gildan Activewear Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th will be given a $0.226 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 20th. This represents a $0.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.89%. Gildan Activewear's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.75%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gildan Activewear

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in GIL. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Gildan Activewear in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $97,275,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of Gildan Activewear by 604.1% in the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,850,971 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $86,999,000 after purchasing an additional 1,588,071 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position 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 worth $83,394,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300,121 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in Gildan Activewear by 67.2% in the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,959,555 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $131,556,000 after acquiring an additional 1,189,921 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in Gildan Activewear by 545.1% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,210,314 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $57,403,000 after acquiring an additional 1,022,695 shares during the period. 82.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.