Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Increases Position in Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL)

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) by 31.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,573,695 shares of the textile maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 377,135 shares during the quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. owned about 0.95% of Gildan Activewear worth $59,674,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CWM LLC grew its holdings in Gildan Activewear by 86.5% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,074 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares during the last quarter. Natixis purchased a new stake in shares of Gildan Activewear during the first quarter worth about $51,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Gildan Activewear by 16.9% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,893 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its position in shares of Gildan Activewear by 69.2% in the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 2,200 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new stake in Gildan Activewear in the 1st quarter worth approximately $84,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.83% of the company’s stock.

Gildan Activewear Price Performance

Gildan Activewear stock traded up $0.25 during trading on Friday, reaching $42.19. The company had a trading volume of 663,304 shares, compared to its average volume of 753,849. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.99 billion, a PE ratio of 14.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.43. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $39.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 2.38. Gildan Activewear Inc. has a 1-year low of $26.99 and a 1-year high of $42.36.

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The textile maker reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.03. Gildan Activewear had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 24.62%. The business had revenue of $862.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $851.10 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.63 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Gildan Activewear Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gildan Activewear Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be paid a $0.205 dividend. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 22nd. Gildan Activewear’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.70%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GIL has been the subject of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Gildan Activewear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $39.00 to $51.00 in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Gildan Activewear from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on shares of Gildan Activewear from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Gildan Activewear from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on Gildan Activewear from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.50.

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.