Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL) Upgraded to Buy by Stifel Nicolaus

Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $51.00 price objective on the textile maker’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $39.00.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on GIL. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on Gildan Activewear from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on Gildan Activewear from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $41.00 price objective on shares of Gildan Activewear in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $44.50.

Gildan Activewear Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:GIL traded down $0.20 on Friday, hitting $40.42. 311,633 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 759,957. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $38.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a market cap of $6.70 billion, a PE ratio of 13.60, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.43. Gildan Activewear has a 52 week low of $26.99 and a 52 week high of $42.00.

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The textile maker reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $862.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $851.10 million. Gildan Activewear had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 24.62%. Gildan Activewear’s revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.63 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Gildan Activewear will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Gildan Activewear Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.205 per share. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. Gildan Activewear’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.70%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gildan Activewear

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GIL. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Gildan Activewear by 86.5% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,074 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. Natixis purchased a new stake in Gildan Activewear during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. purchased a new stake in Gildan Activewear during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Tobam purchased a new position in Gildan Activewear during the second quarter valued at $53,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Gildan Activewear by 16.9% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,893 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. 82.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.