The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Boosts Stock Position in Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL - Free Report) TSE: GIL by 276.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,769,634 shares of the textile maker's stock after buying an additional 1,300,121 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 1.16% of Gildan Activewear worth $83,394,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in GIL. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Gildan Activewear during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $597,000. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Gildan Activewear by 76.1% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 40,798 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $1,922,000 after acquiring an additional 17,634 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Gildan Activewear by 6.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 35,135 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $1,702,000 after acquiring an additional 2,138 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC bought a new position in Gildan Activewear in the 3rd quarter valued at $24,262,000. Finally, Cooper Financial Group grew its position in shares of Gildan Activewear by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 16,268 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $765,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.83% of the company's stock.

Gildan Activewear Trading Up 3.0 %

NYSE:GIL traded up $1.40 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $47.41. The company's stock had a trading volume of 950,425 shares, compared to its average volume of 654,635. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 2.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.96, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.16. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $47.80. Gildan Activewear Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.32 and a 1 year high of $55.39.

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

Gildan Activewear Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.226 per share. This represents a $0.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 20th. Gildan Activewear's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on GIL shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Gildan Activewear from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Gildan Activewear from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. 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 research report on Thursday, February 20th. CIBC dropped their target price on shares of Gildan Activewear from $60.00 to $56.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays began coverage on shares of Gildan Activewear in a report on Monday. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $51.00 price target on the stock. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $58.20.

Gildan Activewear Company 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.