National Bank of Canada FI Has $78.57 Million Position in Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL)

National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) by 19.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,668,147 shares of the textile maker’s stock after buying an additional 272,627 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Gildan Activewear were worth $78,571,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in Gildan Activewear in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Fifth Third Bancorp raised 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 worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 333 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in Gildan Activewear by 500.0% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 894 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 745 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Gildan Activewear by 899.0% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,009 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 908 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in Gildan Activewear by 561.9% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 1,423 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 1,208 shares in the last quarter. 82.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Gildan Activewear Stock Performance

Shares of GIL opened at $45.08 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $6.85 billion, a PE ratio of 18.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.39. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $49.98 and a 200-day moving average of $48.69. Gildan Activewear Inc. has a one year low of $32.23 and a one year high of $55.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The textile maker reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by ($0.30). The business 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 28.80% and a net margin of 12.26%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.75 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Gildan Activewear Inc. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current 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 $0.226 dividend. This represents a $0.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. This is a boost from Gildan Activewear’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Gildan Activewear’s dividend payout ratio is 36.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GIL has been the topic of a number of research reports. TD Securities boosted their price target on Gildan Activewear from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Gildan Activewear from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on shares of Gildan Activewear from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Gildan Activewear from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Gildan Activewear from $60.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.00.

Gildan Activewear 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.