Gildan Activewear, Inc. (NYSE:GIL) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Analyst consensus: Moderate Buy — 16 analysts cover Gildan (13 buy, 2 hold, 1 sell) with an average 12‑month target of about $80.08.
• Mixed quarterly results but strong guidance — Q EPS missed at $0.96 versus $1.31 expected while revenue beat at $1.08B, and the company set FY2026 guidance of $4.20–$4.40 EPS compared with the sell‑side average of 3.48.
• Dividend increase and heavy institutional ownership — Gildan raised its quarterly dividend to $0.249 ($1.00 annual, ~1.6% yield) and 82.8% of shares are held by institutions, with major recent stake increases by firms including Goldman Sachs and AQR.

Shares of Gildan Activewear, Inc. (NYSE:GIL - Get Free Report) TSE: GIL have been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the sixteen analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation and thirteen have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $80.0769.

GIL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Gildan Activewear from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Gildan Activewear in a research report on Monday, December 29th. TD Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $77.00 price objective on shares of Gildan Activewear in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Gildan Activewear from $79.00 to $78.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $110.00 price target (up from $80.00) on shares of Gildan Activewear in a report on Tuesday, December 16th.

Gildan Activewear Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of Gildan Activewear stock opened at $61.53 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The company has a market cap of $11.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.48 and a beta of 1.05. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $66.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $61.25. Gildan Activewear has a 52-week low of $37.16 and a 52-week high of $73.69.

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL - Get Free Report) TSE: GIL last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The textile maker reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.31 by ($0.35). Gildan Activewear had a return on equity of 27.32% and a net margin of 11.02%.The business had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.83 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Gildan Activewear has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.200-4.400 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Gildan Activewear will post 3.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gildan Activewear Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 19th will be given a $0.249 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. This is an increase from Gildan Activewear's previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 19th. Gildan Activewear's payout ratio is currently 34.35%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in GIL. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Gildan Activewear by 49.3% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 13,209 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $584,000 after purchasing an additional 4,360 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Gildan Activewear by 40.0% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,760,253 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $77,838,000 after purchasing an additional 503,359 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in Gildan Activewear by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 186,585 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $8,251,000 after purchasing an additional 4,714 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Gildan Activewear by 5,200.0% during the second quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,113 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 1,092 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Gildan Activewear by 2.7% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 254,002 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $12,507,000 after buying an additional 6,591 shares in the last quarter. 82.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Gildan Activewear

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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