Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Stifel Nicolaus Analyst Says

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) had its target price raised by Stifel Nicolaus from $60.00 to $65.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning,BayStreet.CA reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the textile maker’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on GIL. CIBC raised their price objective on shares of Gildan Activewear from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Gildan Activewear from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Gildan Activewear from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. TD Securities raised their price objective on shares of Gildan Activewear from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on shares of Gildan Activewear from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Gildan Activewear presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.00.

Gildan Activewear Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GIL opened at $54.18 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $49.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The company has a market cap of $8.24 billion, a PE ratio of 21.67, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.41. Gildan Activewear has a 52-week low of $32.23 and a 52-week high of $55.39.

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The textile maker reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by ($0.30). The company had revenue of $822.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $805.75 million. Gildan Activewear had a net margin of 12.26% and a return on equity of 28.80%. The business’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.75 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Gildan Activewear will post 3.48 EPS for the current year.

Gildan Activewear Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.226 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.67%. This is an increase from Gildan Activewear’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Gildan Activewear’s payout ratio is currently 36.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gildan Activewear

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of Gildan Activewear by 1.9% during 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 buying an additional 128,674 shares during the last quarter. Simcoe Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Gildan Activewear by 10.5% during the third 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 stake in shares of Gildan Activewear during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $97,275,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of Gildan Activewear by 604.1% during the fourth 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 buying an additional 1,588,071 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of 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 valued at $83,394,000 after buying an additional 1,300,121 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.