Short Interest in Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL) Drops By 9.0%

Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) saw a significant drop in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,710,000 shares, a drop of 9.0% from the November 30th total of 1,880,000 shares. Currently, 1.1% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 577,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.0 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in Gildan Activewear by 38.4% in the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 70,505 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $2,674,000 after buying an additional 19,549 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in Gildan Activewear by 50.2% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 7,794 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $296,000 after purchasing an additional 2,604 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in Gildan Activewear by 24.3% in the 2nd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 328,907 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $12,472,000 after purchasing an additional 64,296 shares during the last quarter. BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. grew its position in Gildan Activewear by 39.9% in the 2nd quarter. BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. now owns 209,784 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $7,955,000 after purchasing an additional 59,784 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pembroke Management LTD acquired a new stake in shares of Gildan Activewear in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,819,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.83% of the company’s stock.

Gildan Activewear Stock Performance

GIL traded up $0.77 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $47.05. 543,813 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 700,844. The stock has a market cap of $7.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $48.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $44.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 2.31 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Gildan Activewear has a 12 month low of $30.68 and a 12 month high of $50.60.

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

Gildan Activewear Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were given a dividend of $0.152 per share. This represents a $0.61 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. Gildan Activewear’s payout ratio is 32.41%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GIL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. CIBC raised their price target on shares of Gildan Activewear from $48.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on Gildan Activewear from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. TD Securities increased their price target on Gildan Activewear from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Citigroup raised their price objective on Gildan Activewear from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Gildan Activewear from $47.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Gildan Activewear has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.05.

Gildan Activewear Company 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.