Gildan Activewear (TSE:GIL) Reaches New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Gildan Activewear Inc. (TSE:GIL) (NYSE:GIL) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as C$66.30 and last traded at C$65.80, with a volume of 161223 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$65.55.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GIL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Gildan Activewear to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. National Bankshares boosted their price objective on shares of Gildan Activewear from C$58.00 to C$68.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Gildan Activewear from C$44.00 to C$54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. TD Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Gildan Activewear from C$46.00 to C$50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Desjardins lifted their price target on shares of Gildan Activewear from C$63.00 to C$67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of C$56.00.

Gildan Activewear Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is C$60.42 and its 200 day moving average price is C$53.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 72.52, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market cap of C$10.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.55 and a beta of 1.64.

Gildan Activewear (TSE:GIL) (NYSE:GIL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported C$1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of C$0.99 by C$0.02. The business had revenue of C$1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$1.17 billion. Gildan Activewear had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 21.95%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Gildan Activewear Inc. will post 4.5460385 EPS for the current year.

Gildan Activewear Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is a positive change from Gildan Activewear’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 22nd. Gildan Activewear’s dividend payout ratio is 33.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Gildan Activewear news, Senior Officer Rhodri Harries sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$61.20, for a total transaction of C$1,989,000.00. In related news, Director Michener Chandlee acquired 1,196 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of C$40.85 per share, for a total transaction of C$48,856.60. Also, Senior Officer Rhodri Harries sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$61.20, for a total transaction of C$1,989,000.00. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 101,620 shares of company stock valued at $4,870,471. 2.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.