Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL) Receives Average Recommendation of "Buy" from Brokerages

Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL - Get Free Report) TSE: GIL has been given an average rating of "Buy" by the ten brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $58.20.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GIL. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Gildan Activewear from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Gildan Activewear from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Barclays started coverage on Gildan Activewear in a research report on Monday, April 28th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $51.00 price target on the stock. CIBC reduced their price objective on Gildan Activewear from $60.00 to $56.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on Gildan Activewear from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th.

Institutional Trading of Gildan Activewear

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Gildan Activewear by 40.0% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,760,253 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $77,838,000 after buying an additional 503,359 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd grew its stake in shares of Gildan Activewear by 138.9% in the first quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 23,135 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $1,023,000 after acquiring an additional 13,451 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Gildan Activewear by 49.3% during the first 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. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec raised its holdings in shares of Gildan Activewear by 29.5% during the first quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 102,611 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $4,525,000 after purchasing an additional 23,399 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PDT Partners LLC lifted its position in Gildan Activewear by 417.2% during the first quarter. PDT Partners LLC now owns 44,012 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $1,946,000 after purchasing an additional 35,503 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.83% of the company's stock.

Gildan Activewear Stock Up 0.1%

GIL traded up $0.05 on Wednesday, hitting $50.17. The company had a trading volume of 2,674,550 shares, compared to its average volume of 656,654. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $44.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $47.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.21. Gildan Activewear has a 52-week low of $35.33 and a 52-week high of $55.39.

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL - Get Free Report) TSE: GIL last released 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. Gildan Activewear had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 12.26%. The company had revenue of $711.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $715.29 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.59 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Gildan Activewear will post 3.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gildan Activewear Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.226 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 20th. This represents a $0.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. Gildan Activewear's dividend payout ratio is 34.75%.

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.