Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Still a Buy?

Shares of Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Wednesday . Approximately 4,290,567 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 491% from the previous session’s volume of 726,154 shares.The stock last traded at $48.89 and had previously closed at $48.91.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. TD Securities raised their target price on shares of Gildan Activewear from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Gildan Activewear from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. CIBC raised their price target on Gildan Activewear from $48.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Gildan Activewear from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Gildan Activewear from $47.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Gildan Activewear has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.85.

Gildan Activewear Stock Up 0.2 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $7.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $47.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.13.

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, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.85. Gildan Activewear had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 26.88%. The company had revenue of $891.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $882.85 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.74 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Gildan Activewear Inc. will post 2.97 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 paid a $0.152 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $0.61 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. Gildan Activewear’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.41%.

Institutional Trading of Gildan Activewear

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Gildan Activewear during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Gildan Activewear by 96.1% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 810 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. Natixis bought a new position in shares of Gildan Activewear in the first quarter worth about $51,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. purchased a new position in Gildan Activewear during the second quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Finally, Tobam bought a new position in Gildan Activewear in the 2nd quarter worth $53,000. 82.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.