Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) by 6.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 435,700 shares of the textile maker’s stock after selling 30,822 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.29% of Gildan Activewear worth $20,495,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GIL. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its position in Gildan Activewear by 545.1% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,210,314 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $57,403,000 after purchasing an additional 1,022,695 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC acquired a new stake in Gildan Activewear in the 3rd quarter worth about $24,262,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in Gildan Activewear by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,841,572 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $322,298,000 after buying an additional 240,375 shares during the last quarter. Simcoe Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Gildan Activewear by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter. Simcoe Capital Management LLC now owns 2,387,865 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $112,492,000 after buying an additional 226,695 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Gildan Activewear in the 4th quarter worth about $3,853,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.83% of the company’s stock.

Gildan Activewear Stock Performance

Gildan Activewear stock opened at $46.77 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $50.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $48.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.11 billion, a PE ratio of 18.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.39. 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 one year low of $32.23 and a one year high of $55.39.

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The textile maker reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.13 by ($0.30). The company had revenue of $822.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $805.75 million. Gildan Activewear had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 12.26%. The business’s revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.75 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Gildan Activewear Inc. will post 3.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gildan Activewear Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. This is an increase from Gildan Activewear’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.93%. Gildan Activewear’s payout ratio is currently 36.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. 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. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Gildan Activewear from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Gildan Activewear from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Gildan Activewear from $60.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Gildan Activewear from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $60.00.

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.