Lazard Asset Management LLC Has $71.66 Million Stock Position in Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL)

Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL - Free Report) TSE: GIL by 15.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,523,077 shares of the textile maker's stock after purchasing an additional 206,569 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned 1.00% of Gildan Activewear worth $71,660,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Gildan Activewear during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in shares of Gildan Activewear by 61.8% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 872 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 333 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Gildan Activewear by 500.0% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 894 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 745 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Gildan Activewear by 899.0% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,009 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 908 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in Gildan Activewear by 561.9% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 1,423 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 1,208 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.83% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GIL has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on Gildan Activewear from $60.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Barclays assumed coverage on Gildan Activewear in a research note on Monday, April 28th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $51.00 price target for the company. CIBC cut their price objective on Gildan Activewear from $60.00 to $56.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. TD Securities boosted their target price 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Gildan Activewear from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $58.20.

Gildan Activewear Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GIL traded up $0.75 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $50.09. 454,823 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 653,398. Gildan Activewear Inc. has a twelve month low of $34.62 and a twelve month high of $55.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.21. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $44.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

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

Gildan Activewear Announces Dividend

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

Gildan Activewear 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.