Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the nine ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $60.00.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on GIL shares. TD Securities increased their price target on Gildan Activewear from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Gildan Activewear from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on shares of Gildan Activewear from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. CIBC lifted their target price on shares of Gildan Activewear from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Gildan Activewear from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th.

Gildan Activewear Price Performance

NYSE:GIL opened at $45.51 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $50.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $48.68. Gildan Activewear has a 1-year low of $32.23 and a 1-year high of $55.39. The firm has a market cap of $6.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.39.

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $822.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $805.75 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.75 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Gildan Activewear will post 3.48 EPS for the current year.

Gildan Activewear Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given a $0.226 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. This is a positive change from Gildan Activewear’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. Gildan Activewear’s dividend payout ratio is 36.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gildan Activewear

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GIL. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Gildan Activewear by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,325 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $251,000 after buying an additional 739 shares in the last quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Gildan Activewear by 55.6% in the fourth quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. now owns 26,450 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $1,244,000 after purchasing an additional 9,450 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its position in Gildan Activewear by 262.4% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 45,451 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $2,138,000 after purchasing an additional 32,911 shares during the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Gildan Activewear during the fourth quarter worth about $402,000. Finally, Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. acquired a new position in Gildan Activewear in the 4th quarter valued at about $173,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.83% of the company’s stock.

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.