Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Acquires New Position in Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 12,663 shares of the textile maker’s stock, valued at approximately $597,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GIL. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Gildan Activewear during the third quarter worth $29,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Gildan Activewear by 96.1% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 810 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Gildan Activewear in the 2nd quarter valued at about $51,000. Tobam acquired a new position in shares of Gildan Activewear during the second quarter worth about $53,000. Finally, CWM LLC raised its holdings in Gildan Activewear by 23.0% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,698 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.83% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on GIL. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Gildan Activewear from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on Gildan Activewear from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. TD Securities upped their price objective on Gildan Activewear from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Gildan Activewear from $47.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Gildan Activewear from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Gildan Activewear currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $51.05.

Gildan Activewear Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GIL opened at $48.82 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $48.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 2.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.30, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.40. Gildan Activewear Inc. has a one year low of $30.68 and a one year high of $50.60.

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The textile maker reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85. The company had revenue of $891.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $882.85 million. Gildan Activewear had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 26.88%. Gildan Activewear’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.74 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Gildan Activewear Inc. will post 2.97 EPS for the current year.

Gildan Activewear Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.152 dividend. This represents a $0.61 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Gildan Activewear’s payout ratio is 32.41%.

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.