Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL) Sees Large Volume Increase – Here’s Why

Shares of Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) saw strong trading volume on Tuesday . 422,892 shares were traded 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 research analysts have commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Gildan Activewear from $47.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group upgraded Gildan Activewear from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $50.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Friday. Citigroup boosted their target price on Gildan Activewear from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. CIBC increased their target price on shares of Gildan Activewear from $48.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on shares of Gildan Activewear from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $53.35.

Gildan Activewear Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $7.51 billion, a PE ratio of 19.41, a PEG ratio of 1.82 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. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $45.29.

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The textile maker reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85. The firm had revenue of $891.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $882.85 million. Gildan Activewear had a return on equity of 26.88% and a net margin of 13.06%. The company’s revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.74 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Gildan Activewear Inc. will post 2.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gildan Activewear Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were given a $0.152 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $0.61 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.24%. Gildan Activewear’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.41%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gildan Activewear

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GIL. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new position in Gildan Activewear in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 397 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 318 shares during the period. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Gildan Activewear by 33.1% during the 2nd quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,709 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $103,000 after purchasing an additional 674 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Laurus Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new position in Gildan Activewear during the third quarter worth about $203,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.83% of the company’s stock.

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.