JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd Lowers Position in Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL)

JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd lessened its position in Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL - Free Report) TSE: GIL by 15.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,773,086 shares of the textile maker's stock after selling 1,555,263 shares during the period. Gildan Activewear comprises about 2.4% of JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd owned 5.75% of Gildan Activewear worth $411,223,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Gotham Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Gildan Activewear by 42.3% during the 4th quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 18,532 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $872,000 after buying an additional 5,513 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in shares of Gildan Activewear by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 221,436 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $10,419,000 after buying an additional 10,889 shares in the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Gildan Activewear during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,616,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Gildan Activewear during the 4th quarter worth approximately $234,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in Gildan Activewear by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,502,417 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $70,689,000 after acquiring an additional 112,894 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.83% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Gildan Activewear from $60.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. TD Securities upped their price objective on shares of Gildan Activewear from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Gildan Activewear from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Gildan Activewear in a report on Monday, April 28th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $51.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Gildan Activewear from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Gildan Activewear has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $58.20.

Gildan Activewear Price Performance

Shares of GIL stock traded up $0.75 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $50.09. The stock had a trading volume of 454,823 shares, compared to its average volume of 653,398. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $44.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.82. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Gildan Activewear Inc. has a 12 month low of $34.62 and a 12 month high of $55.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.57 billion, a PE ratio of 20.03, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.21.

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

Gildan Activewear Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $0.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 20th. Gildan Activewear's dividend payout ratio is presently 34.75%.

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.