JPMorgan Chase & Co. Reduces Stake in Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut its holdings in shares of Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) by 5.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 578,722 shares of the textile maker’s stock after selling 33,582 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Gildan Activewear were worth $27,264,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC acquired a new position in shares of Gildan Activewear in the 3rd quarter valued at about $24,262,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Gildan Activewear by 6.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 35,135 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $1,702,000 after acquiring an additional 2,138 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Gildan Activewear by 76.1% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 40,798 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $1,922,000 after acquiring an additional 17,634 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in Gildan Activewear in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $597,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Gildan Activewear during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $969,000. 82.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Gildan Activewear Price Performance

Shares of Gildan Activewear stock opened at $46.45 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.96. Gildan Activewear Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.68 and a 12 month high of $50.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 2.31 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.36, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.41.

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) last released its 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 business had revenue of $891.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.74 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Gildan Activewear Inc. will post 2.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gildan Activewear Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were paid a $0.152 dividend. This represents a $0.61 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. Gildan Activewear’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on GIL shares. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Gildan Activewear from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Gildan Activewear from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets raised 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. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on Gildan Activewear from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, CIBC increased their price target on Gildan Activewear from $48.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.61.

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.