Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL) Sees Large Volume Increase – What’s Next?

Shares of Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Monday . Approximately 3,200,321 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 521% from the previous session’s volume of 515,571 shares.The stock last traded at $48.58 and had previously closed at $49.51.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GIL. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on Gildan Activewear from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Gildan Activewear from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Gildan Activewear from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Gildan Activewear from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, TD Securities increased their target price on shares of Gildan Activewear from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, Gildan Activewear has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.00.

Gildan Activewear Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $50.65 and a 200-day moving average of $48.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.72, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.39.

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The textile maker reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.13 by ($0.30). Gildan Activewear had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 12.26%. The firm had revenue of $822.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $805.75 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.75 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Gildan Activewear Inc. will post 3.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gildan Activewear Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.226 per share. This represents a $0.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.83%. This is an increase from Gildan Activewear’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. Gildan Activewear’s payout ratio is 36.00%.

Institutional Trading of Gildan Activewear

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Simcoe Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Gildan Activewear by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter. Simcoe Capital Management LLC now owns 2,387,865 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $112,492,000 after purchasing an additional 226,695 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Gildan Activewear in the third quarter valued at about $544,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in Gildan Activewear by 545.1% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,210,314 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $57,403,000 after buying an additional 1,022,695 shares during the last quarter. Tacita Capital Inc increased its stake in shares of Gildan Activewear by 1,025.5% in the 3rd quarter. Tacita Capital Inc now owns 13,056 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $615,000 after acquiring an additional 11,896 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meritage Portfolio Management acquired a new stake in shares of Gildan Activewear in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $462,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.83% of the company’s stock.

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.