Gildan Activewear (TSE:GIL) Hits New 12-Month High on Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Gildan Activewear Inc. (TSE:GIL) (NYSE:GIL) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The company traded as high as C$76.90 and last traded at C$76.59, with a volume of 324667 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$73.70.

The company reported C$0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of C$0.82 by C$0.01. Gildan Activewear had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 23.10%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.75 EPS.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on GIL shares. UBS Group raised shares of Gildan Activewear from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. National Bankshares increased their price objective on shares of Gildan Activewear from C$68.00 to C$74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of C$57.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gildan Activewear

In other Gildan Activewear news, Senior Officer Benito Masi sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$69.31, for a total transaction of C$693,102.00. 2.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Gildan Activewear Stock Performance

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is C$70.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$66.07. The company has a market capitalization of C$8.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.57, a PEG ratio of 4.55 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 101.26, a current ratio of 2.31 and a quick ratio of 0.87.

About Gildan Activewear

Gildan is a vertically integrated designer and manufacturer of basic apparel, including T-shirts, underwear, socks, and hosiery. Its primary market is the sale of blank T-shirts to wholesalers and printers (printwear). Gildan also sells branded clothing through retail and direct-to-consumer channels.