Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its stake in shares of Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) by 192.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 742,149 shares of the textile maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 488,602 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Gildan Activewear were worth $34,918,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Gildan Activewear by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,841,572 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $322,298,000 after purchasing an additional 240,375 shares during the period. Simcoe Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Gildan Activewear by 10.5% during the third quarter. Simcoe Capital Management LLC now owns 2,387,865 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $112,492,000 after buying an additional 226,695 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Gildan Activewear by 2.8% during the third quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,618,420 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $76,244,000 after buying an additional 44,725 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Gildan Activewear by 545.1% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,210,314 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $57,403,000 after buying an additional 1,022,695 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Gildan Activewear by 12.0% in the third quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 987,250 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $46,473,000 after acquiring an additional 106,150 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.83% of the company’s stock.

Gildan Activewear Trading Down 2.1 %

NYSE GIL opened at $52.92 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $50.36 and a 200-day moving average of $48.26. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Gildan Activewear Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.23 and a 1-year high of $55.39. The firm has a market cap of $8.05 billion, a PE ratio of 21.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.41.

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) last released 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 last year, the company posted $0.75 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Gildan Activewear Inc. will post 3.48 EPS for the current year.

Gildan Activewear Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given a $0.226 dividend. This is a boost 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 1.71%. Gildan Activewear’s payout ratio is presently 36.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Gildan Activewear from $60.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. TD Securities boosted their target price on Gildan Activewear from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Gildan Activewear from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Gildan Activewear from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, CIBC increased their target price on Gildan Activewear from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Gildan Activewear has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $60.00.

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.