Gildan Activewear (TSE:GIL) Hits New 1-Year High on Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Gildan Activewear Inc. (TSE:GIL) (NYSE:GIL)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock traded as high as C$76.90 and last traded at C$76.59, with a volume of 324667 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at C$73.70.

The company reported C$0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of C$0.82 by C$0.01. Gildan Activewear had a return on equity of 23.10% and a net margin of 13.05%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.75 EPS.

Gildan Activewear Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.205 per share. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. Gildan Activewear’s payout ratio is currently 29.76%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GIL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group raised Gildan Activewear from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. National Bankshares increased their price objective on Gildan Activewear from C$68.00 to C$74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Gildan Activewear has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of C$57.20.

Insider Transactions at Gildan Activewear

In related news, Senior Officer Benito Masi sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$69.31, for a total transaction of C$693,102.00. Company insiders own 2.26% of the company’s stock.

Gildan Activewear Trading Up 3.9 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 101.26, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 2.31. The firm has a fifty day moving average of C$70.55 and a 200 day moving average of C$65.77. The firm has a market capitalization of C$8.32 billion, a PE ratio of 20.54, a P/E/G ratio of 4.55 and a beta of 1.64.

About Gildan Activewear

Gildan is a vertically integrated designer and manufacturer of basic apparel, including T-shirts, underwear, socks, and hosiery. Its primary market is the sale of blank T-shirts to wholesalers and printers (printwear). Gildan also sells branded clothing through retail and direct-to-consumer channels.