Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL) Trading 7% Higher After Strong Earnings

Key Points

• Gildan Activewear shares rose 7% after the company reported quarterly EPS of $1.28, exceeding the $1.11 analyst consensus and improving from $0.97 a year earlier. Revenue increased 72.3% year over year to $1.58 billion, though it fell short of the $1.61 billion estimate.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.249 per share, equivalent to approximately $1.00 annually and a 1.8% yield.
• Wall Street’s outlook remains favorable, with 13 analysts rating the stock Buy and four rating it Hold; the consensus target price is $78.86. Institutional investors own 82.83% of the company’s shares.

Gildan Activewear, Inc. (NYSE:GIL - Get Free Report) TSE: GIL shares traded up 7% during mid-day trading on Friday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The company traded as high as $56.11 and last traded at $56.19. 1,381,957 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 3% from the average daily volume of 1,428,779 shares. The stock had previously closed at $52.50.

The textile maker reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.17. Gildan Activewear had a return on equity of 21.38% and a net margin of 6.10%.The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.61 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.97 earnings per share. Gildan Activewear's revenue for the quarter was up 72.3% on a year-over-year basis.

Gildan Activewear Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a $0.249 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Gildan Activewear's dividend payout ratio is 58.82%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on GIL. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $82.00 target price on shares of Gildan Activewear in a research report on Friday. Zacks Research raised Gildan Activewear from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Scotiabank reiterated a "sector outperform" rating and set a $67.00 price objective (up from $65.00) on shares of Gildan Activewear in a research note on Friday. Scotia decreased their price objective on Gildan Activewear from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, TD Securities restated a "buy" rating on shares of Gildan Activewear in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Gildan Activewear presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $78.86.

Institutional Trading of Gildan Activewear

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GIL. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its position in shares of Gildan Activewear by 14.0% in the second quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 613,324 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $31,648,000 after acquiring an additional 75,530 shares during the period. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Gildan Activewear by 17.0% during the 2nd quarter. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,026,915 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $155,749,000 after acquiring an additional 440,770 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Gildan Activewear by 88.7% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 12,208 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $629,000 after purchasing an additional 5,740 shares in the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Gildan Activewear by 16.5% in the 2nd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 26,684 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $1,377,000 after purchasing an additional 3,780 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in Gildan Activewear by 14.6% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 3,566 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $184,000 after purchasing an additional 454 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.83% of the company's stock.

Gildan Activewear Stock Up 7.1%

The company has a market cap of $10.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.02 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a fifty day moving average of $54.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $59.48. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.