Intact Investment Management Inc. Acquires 106,150 Shares of Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL)

Intact Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) by 12.0% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 987,250 shares of the textile maker’s stock after buying an additional 106,150 shares during the period. Gildan Activewear comprises approximately 1.5% of Intact Investment Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Intact Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Gildan Activewear were worth $46,473,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in shares of Gildan Activewear by 24.6% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 9,359 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $441,000 after buying an additional 1,849 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its stake in Gildan Activewear by 41.4% during the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 73,619 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $3,401,000 after acquiring an additional 21,553 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Gildan Activewear during the 3rd quarter valued at $216,000. Arkadios Wealth Advisors purchased a new position in Gildan Activewear during the 3rd quarter worth $212,000. Finally, Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Gildan Activewear in the 3rd quarter worth $284,000. 82.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Gildan Activewear from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Gildan Activewear from $47.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. CIBC upped their target price on Gildan Activewear from $48.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. TD Securities increased their price target on Gildan Activewear from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on Gildan Activewear from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.85.

Gildan Activewear Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GIL opened at $49.66 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $46.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.94. Gildan Activewear Inc. has a 1-year low of $28.95 and a 1-year high of $49.92. The firm has a market cap of $7.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.44.

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 for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.85. Gildan Activewear had a return on equity of 25.66% and a net margin of 13.06%. The company had revenue of $891.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $882.85 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.74 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Gildan Activewear Inc. will post 2.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Gildan Activewear Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.152 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $0.61 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.22%. Gildan Activewear’s payout ratio is 32.41%.

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.