Raymond James & Associates Increases Holdings in Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL)

Raymond James & Associates raised its position in Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) by 191.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 57,538 shares of the textile maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 37,785 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Gildan Activewear were worth $2,711,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Gildan Activewear in the first quarter valued at $692,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in Gildan Activewear by 25.2% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 25,345 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $941,000 after acquiring an additional 5,101 shares in the last quarter. Sciencast Management LP acquired a new position in Gildan Activewear during the 1st quarter worth approximately $301,000. Equity Investment Corp purchased a new position in shares of Gildan Activewear in the 1st quarter valued at $202,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in shares of Gildan Activewear by 12.1% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 520,907 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $19,337,000 after buying an additional 56,287 shares during the last quarter. 82.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. TD Securities lifted their target price on shares of Gildan Activewear from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. CIBC lifted their price target on shares of Gildan Activewear from $48.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on shares of Gildan Activewear from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Gildan Activewear from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Gildan Activewear from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.85.

Gildan Activewear Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GIL opened at $49.12 on Tuesday. 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 Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.68 and a twelve month high of $50.12. The company has a market capitalization of $7.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.42, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.44. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $46.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.04.

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The textile maker reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85. Gildan Activewear had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 25.66%. The business had revenue of $891.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $882.85 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.74 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Gildan Activewear Inc. will post 2.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gildan Activewear Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.152 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $0.61 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. Gildan Activewear’s dividend payout ratio is 32.41%.

Gildan Activewear 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.