Plato Investment Management Ltd Takes Position in Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL)

Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 589 shares of the textile maker’s stock, valued at approximately $28,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GIL. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Gildan Activewear during the third quarter valued at $216,000. US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in Gildan Activewear by 24.6% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 9,359 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $441,000 after buying an additional 1,849 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp increased its holdings in Gildan Activewear by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 255,734 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $12,053,000 after buying an additional 12,933 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Gildan Activewear by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 16,097 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $758,000 after buying an additional 1,004 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atria Investments Inc bought a new stake in Gildan Activewear in the 3rd quarter worth about $391,000. 82.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Gildan Activewear Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:GIL opened at $51.05 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.42, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.41. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $50.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $48.34. Gildan Activewear Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.23 and a 52-week high of $55.39.

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The textile maker reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by ($0.30). Gildan Activewear had a net margin of 12.26% and a return on equity of 28.80%. The company had revenue of $822.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $805.75 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.75 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Gildan Activewear Inc. will post 3.48 EPS for the current year.

Gildan Activewear Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given a dividend of $0.226 per share. This is a boost from Gildan Activewear’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. Gildan Activewear’s payout ratio is presently 36.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on GIL shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Gildan Activewear from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Gildan Activewear from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. TD Securities lifted their price objective on Gildan Activewear from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. CIBC lifted their price objective on Gildan Activewear from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Gildan Activewear from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average 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.