Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) saw a large drop in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,140,000 shares, a drop of 10.3% from the August 31st total of 3,500,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 607,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.2 days. Currently, 2.0% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gildan Activewear

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Gildan Activewear during the second quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Natixis purchased a new stake in Gildan Activewear in the first quarter worth $51,000. Tobam purchased a new stake in Gildan Activewear in the second quarter worth $53,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Gildan Activewear by 16.9% in the first 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 during the period. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd grew its stake in Gildan Activewear by 69.2% in the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 2,200 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the period. 82.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Gildan Activewear from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Gildan Activewear from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Gildan Activewear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $39.00 to $51.00 in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.50.

Gildan Activewear Trading Down 1.4 %

GIL stock traded down $0.65 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $46.85. The company had a trading volume of 541,674 shares, compared to its average volume of 744,492. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Gildan Activewear has a 52 week low of $27.24 and a 52 week high of $47.75. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $43.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.94. The stock has a market cap of $7.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.83, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.43.

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The textile maker reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.03. Gildan Activewear had a return on equity of 24.96% and a net margin of 13.01%. The firm had revenue of $862.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $851.10 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.63 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Gildan Activewear will post 2.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gildan Activewear Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.205 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.75%. Gildan Activewear’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.70%.

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.