Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL) Sees Large Volume Increase – Still a Buy?

Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) shares saw an uptick in trading volume on Tuesday . 422,892 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 8% from the previous session’s volume of 461,434 shares.The stock last traded at $49.00 and had previously closed at $47.97.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GIL. UBS Group upgraded shares of Gildan Activewear from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $50.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Gildan Activewear from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Gildan Activewear from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Gildan Activewear from $47.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on shares of Gildan Activewear from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, Gildan Activewear has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.35.

Gildan Activewear Trading Down 0.1 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $7.57 billion, a PE ratio of 19.56, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.41. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $48.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $45.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 2.31 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) last released 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. The business had revenue of $891.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $882.85 million. Gildan Activewear had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 26.88%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.74 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Gildan Activewear Inc. will post 2.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gildan Activewear Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were paid a $0.152 dividend. This represents a $0.61 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. Gildan Activewear’s payout ratio is 32.41%.

Institutional Trading of Gildan Activewear

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Fortis Group Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Gildan Activewear by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 6,601 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $311,000 after buying an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Aristides Capital LLC increased its holdings in Gildan Activewear by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Aristides Capital LLC now owns 7,617 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $289,000 after acquiring an additional 314 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its holdings in Gildan Activewear by 23.0% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,698 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $80,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares during the period. Cooper Financial Group increased its holdings in Gildan Activewear by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 16,268 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $765,000 after acquiring an additional 340 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Gildan Activewear by 96.1% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 810 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 397 shares during the period. 82.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.