Gildan Activewear (TSE:GIL) Trading Up 6.4% After Dividend Announcement

Gildan Activewear Inc. (TSE:GIL - Get Free Report) NYSE: GIL rose 6.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as C$64.20 and last traded at C$63.11. Approximately 97,104 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 431,475 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$59.31.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. Gildan Activewear's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.76%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Desjardins reduced their price target on Gildan Activewear from C$87.00 to C$80.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays raised shares of Gildan Activewear to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. National Bankshares reduced their price target on Gildan Activewear from C$83.00 to C$72.00 in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Gildan Activewear from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of C$64.00.

Gildan Activewear Stock Up 0.8 %

The company has a market cap of C$7.16 billion, a PE ratio of 17.69, a P/E/G ratio of 4.55 and a beta of 1.64. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of C$63.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$67.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 101.26.

Gildan Activewear (TSE:GIL - Get Free Report) NYSE: GIL last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported C$0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of C$0.82 by C$0.01. Gildan Activewear had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 23.10%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.75 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Gildan Activewear Inc. will post 4.5460385 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Gildan Activewear

In other news, Senior Officer Michael Schroeder sold 4,299 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$78.02, for a total transaction of C$335,428.68. Also, Senior Officer Rhodri Harries sold 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$78.08, for a total transaction of C$7,808,000.00. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 110,144 shares of company stock valued at $8,568,586. Insiders own 2.26% of the company's stock.

About Gildan Activewear

Gildan is a vertically integrated designer and manufacturer of basic apparel, including T-shirts, underwear, socks, and hosiery. Its primary market is the sale of blank T-shirts to wholesalers and printers (printwear). Gildan also sells branded clothing through retail and direct-to-consumer channels.