Intact Investment Management Inc. Increases Position in Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL)

Intact Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) by 7.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,057,520 shares of the textile maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 70,270 shares during the quarter. Gildan Activewear comprises about 1.7% of Intact Investment Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. Intact Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Gildan Activewear were worth $49,763,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Gildan Activewear in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in shares of Gildan Activewear by 61.8% in the 4th 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. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Gildan Activewear by 899.0% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,009 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 908 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Gildan Activewear by 561.9% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 1,423 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 1,208 shares during the period. 82.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Gildan Activewear Stock Performance

Shares of GIL opened at $45.94 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $50.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $48.55. 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 quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 2.22. The stock has a market cap of $6.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.39.

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) last issued 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). Gildan Activewear had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 12.26%. The firm had revenue of $822.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $805.75 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.75 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Gildan Activewear Inc. will post 3.48 EPS for the current year.

Gildan Activewear Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be paid a $0.226 dividend. This is an increase from Gildan Activewear’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.97%. Gildan Activewear’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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