Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL) Upgraded by Scotiabank to Strong-Buy Rating

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL - Get Free Report) TSE: GIL was upgraded by Scotiabank to a "strong-buy" rating in a report released on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has a $55.00 target price on the textile maker's stock. Scotiabank's target price suggests a potential upside of 11.96% from the company's current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on GIL. Citigroup upped their price objective on Gildan Activewear from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. TD Securities upped their price objective on 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 Gildan Activewear from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Gildan Activewear from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, UBS Group upped 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. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $57.91.

Gildan Activewear Price Performance

Gildan Activewear stock opened at $49.12 on Wednesday. Gildan Activewear has a 52 week low of $35.56 and a 52 week high of $55.39. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $44.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market cap of $7.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.65, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.21.

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL - Get Free Report) TSE: GIL last posted its 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 return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 12.26%. The business had revenue of $711.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $715.29 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.59 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Gildan Activewear will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gildan Activewear

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Plato Investment Management Ltd boosted its holdings in Gildan Activewear by 684.2% during the 1st quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 4,619 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $206,000 after acquiring an additional 4,030 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in Gildan Activewear by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 186,585 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $8,251,000 after acquiring an additional 4,714 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Gildan Activewear by 40.0% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,760,253 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $77,838,000 after acquiring an additional 503,359 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd boosted its holdings in Gildan Activewear by 138.9% during the 1st quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 23,135 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $1,023,000 after acquiring an additional 13,451 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Gildan Activewear by 49.3% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 13,209 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $584,000 after acquiring an additional 4,360 shares during the period. 82.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.