Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL) Short Interest Up 9.3% in July

Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,060,000 shares, an increase of 9.3% from the June 30th total of 2,800,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 680,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.5 days. Currently, 1.9% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on GIL. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Gildan Activewear from $39.00 to $36.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $41.00 price objective on shares of Gildan Activewear in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on shares of Gildan Activewear from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on Gildan Activewear from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $41.95.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cooke & Bieler LP raised its stake in shares of Gildan Activewear by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 10,075,062 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $333,082,000 after buying an additional 169,476 shares during the last quarter. Browning West LP lifted its holdings in Gildan Activewear by 30.0% in the fourth quarter. Browning West LP now owns 8,640,448 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $285,653,000 after acquiring an additional 1,994,900 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Gildan Activewear by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,401,045 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $179,293,000 after purchasing an additional 97,924 shares in the last quarter. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Gildan Activewear by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,907,144 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $110,197,000 after purchasing an additional 42,094 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Gildan Activewear by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,712,021 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $89,732,000 after purchasing an additional 29,193 shares in the last quarter. 82.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Gildan Activewear Stock Performance

Gildan Activewear stock traded up $0.12 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $40.12. 319,428 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 758,799. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $38.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 2.38 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.43. Gildan Activewear has a 1 year low of $26.99 and a 1 year high of $40.59.

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The textile maker reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.07. Gildan Activewear had a return on equity of 24.00% and a net margin of 16.14%. The firm had revenue of $695.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $692.94 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. Gildan Activewear’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Gildan Activewear will post 2.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gildan Activewear Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.205 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. Gildan Activewear’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.70%.

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.