Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL) Given New $65.00 Price Target at Stifel Nicolaus

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) had its price objective increased by Stifel Nicolaus from $60.00 to $65.00 in a report released on Thursday,BayStreet.CA reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the textile maker’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on Gildan Activewear from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. TD Securities lifted their price target on Gildan Activewear from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on Gildan Activewear from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. CIBC raised their price objective on shares of Gildan Activewear from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Gildan Activewear from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Gildan Activewear currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $60.00.

Gildan Activewear Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of Gildan Activewear stock opened at $55.09 on Thursday. Gildan Activewear has a 12-month low of $32.23 and a 12-month high of $55.12. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $49.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $47.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.78, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.41.

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). The firm had revenue of $822.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $805.75 million. Gildan Activewear had a return on equity of 26.88% and a net margin of 13.06%. Gildan Activewear’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.75 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Gildan Activewear will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Gildan Activewear Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.226 per share. This represents a $0.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.64%. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.41%.

Institutional Trading of Gildan Activewear

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Syon Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Gildan Activewear by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 6,524 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $307,000 after buying an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its stake in Gildan Activewear by 23.0% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,698 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $80,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in shares of Gildan Activewear by 61.8% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 872 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 333 shares during the period. Cooper Financial Group lifted its holdings in shares of Gildan Activewear by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 16,268 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $765,000 after acquiring an additional 340 shares during the period. Finally, Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Gildan Activewear by 16.4% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 2,803 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $132,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. 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.