Lazard Asset Management LLC Acquires 206,569 Shares of Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL)

Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL - Free Report) TSE: GIL by 15.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,523,077 shares of the textile maker's stock after buying an additional 206,569 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned 1.00% of Gildan Activewear worth $71,660,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GIL. Norges Bank bought a new position in Gildan Activewear in the fourth quarter worth about $97,275,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in Gildan Activewear by 604.1% in the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,850,971 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $86,999,000 after buying an additional 1,588,071 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in Gildan Activewear by 276.9% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,769,634 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $83,394,000 after buying an additional 1,300,121 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in Gildan Activewear by 545.1% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,210,314 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $57,403,000 after buying an additional 1,022,695 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in Gildan Activewear by 776.4% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 817,204 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $38,414,000 after purchasing an additional 723,962 shares during the period. 82.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Gildan Activewear Stock Performance

Gildan Activewear stock traded up $0.75 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $50.09. 454,823 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 648,497. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.21. The business has a 50 day moving average of $44.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.82. Gildan Activewear Inc. has a 12 month low of $35.33 and a 12 month high of $55.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $711.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $715.29 million. Gildan Activewear had a net margin of 12.26% and a return on equity of 28.80%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $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 Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. 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. 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 issued an "overweight" rating and a $51.00 price objective on the stock. 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. Finally, CIBC cut their price target on shares of Gildan Activewear from $60.00 to $56.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $58.20.

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.