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

Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) shares saw unusually-strong trading volume on Tuesday . Approximately 422,892 shares traded 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

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on GIL shares. 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 note on Friday, January 10th. 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 note on Friday, November 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on shares of Gildan Activewear from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. 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 note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, TD Securities increased their price target on shares of Gildan Activewear from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $53.35.

Gildan Activewear Price Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average price is $48.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $45.40. The company has a market capitalization of $7.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.56, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The textile maker reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, hitting 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $882.85 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.74 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Gildan Activewear Inc. will post 2.97 EPS for the current year.

Gildan Activewear Cuts Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in Gildan Activewear in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Gildan Activewear by 96.1% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 810 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 397 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its stake in Gildan Activewear by 23.0% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,698 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC increased its stake in Gildan Activewear by 33.1% in the second quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,709 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $103,000 after acquiring an additional 674 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Laurus Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new position in Gildan Activewear in the third quarter valued at approximately $203,000. 82.83% of the stock is owned by 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.