Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Still a Buy?

Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) shares saw an uptick in trading volume on Monday . 3,200,321 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 521% from the previous session’s volume of 515,571 shares.The stock last traded at $48.58 and had previously closed at $49.51.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on GIL shares. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Gildan Activewear from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Gildan Activewear from $60.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. TD Securities increased their target price on Gildan Activewear from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Gildan Activewear from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, CIBC upped their price objective on Gildan Activewear from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Gildan Activewear has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $60.00.

Gildan Activewear Price Performance

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 company has a fifty day moving average price of $50.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $48.57. The company has a market cap of $7.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.19, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.39.

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The textile maker reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by ($0.30). Gildan Activewear had a net margin of 12.26% and a return on equity of 28.80%. The company had revenue of $822.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $805.75 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.75 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Gildan Activewear Inc. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gildan Activewear Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.226 per share. This is an increase from Gildan Activewear’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. Gildan Activewear’s payout ratio is currently 36.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gildan Activewear

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GIL. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of Gildan Activewear by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,970,246 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $327,950,000 after purchasing an additional 128,674 shares during the last quarter. Simcoe Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Gildan Activewear by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter. Simcoe Capital Management LLC now owns 2,387,865 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $112,492,000 after buying an additional 226,695 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Gildan Activewear in the 4th quarter valued at about $97,275,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in Gildan Activewear by 604.1% in the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,850,971 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $86,999,000 after acquiring an additional 1,588,071 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in Gildan Activewear by 276.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,300,121 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.83% of the company’s stock.

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.