Huntington National Bank Grows Stock Position in Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL)

Huntington National Bank increased its stake in Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) by 16.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,803 shares of the textile maker’s stock after buying an additional 395 shares during the quarter. Huntington National Bank’s holdings in Gildan Activewear were worth $132,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Gildan Activewear in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in Gildan Activewear by 61.8% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 872 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Gildan Activewear by 500.0% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 894 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 745 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Gildan Activewear by 899.0% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,009 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 908 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in shares of Gildan Activewear by 561.9% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 1,423 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 1,208 shares during the last quarter. 82.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GIL. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on Gildan Activewear from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. CIBC boosted their target price on shares of Gildan Activewear from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Gildan Activewear from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Gildan Activewear from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Gildan Activewear from $60.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.00.

Gildan Activewear Price Performance

Shares of GIL opened at $39.78 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.05 billion, a PE ratio of 15.91, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $49.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $48.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 2.22. Gildan Activewear Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.23 and a fifty-two week high of $55.39.

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The textile maker reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $805.75 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.75 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Gildan Activewear Inc. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gildan Activewear Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be paid a $0.226 dividend. This represents a $0.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. This is a positive change from Gildan Activewear’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Gildan Activewear’s payout ratio is 36.00%.

Gildan Activewear 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.