Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL) Short Interest Down 10.3% in September

Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,140,000 shares, a decline of 10.3% from the August 31st total of 3,500,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 607,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.2 days. Approximately 2.0% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GIL. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Gildan Activewear in the 1st quarter valued at $692,000. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Gildan Activewear in the fourth quarter worth about $1,114,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of Gildan Activewear by 16.1% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 563,498 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $20,933,000 after purchasing an additional 78,338 shares in the last quarter. Browning West LP grew its holdings in shares of Gildan Activewear by 30.0% during the 4th quarter. Browning West LP now owns 8,640,448 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $285,653,000 after purchasing an additional 1,994,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Gildan Activewear during the 4th quarter worth approximately $859,000. 82.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Gildan Activewear Stock Performance

Shares of Gildan Activewear stock traded down $0.36 on Tuesday, hitting $46.75. The stock had a trading volume of 390,274 shares, compared to its average volume of 741,422. The stock has a market cap of $7.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Gildan Activewear has a twelve month low of $27.24 and a twelve month high of $47.75. The business’s 50 day moving average is $43.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.06.

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The textile maker reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $862.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $851.10 million. Gildan Activewear had a return on equity of 24.96% and a net margin of 13.01%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.63 EPS. Analysts forecast that Gildan Activewear will post 2.92 EPS for the current year.

Gildan Activewear Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 22nd were paid a $0.205 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.75%. Gildan Activewear’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.70%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GIL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Gildan Activewear from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Gildan Activewear from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Gildan Activewear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $39.00 to $51.00 in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.50.

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.