Swiss National Bank Decreases Stock Position in Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL)

Swiss National Bank lessened its holdings in Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 451,000 shares of the textile maker’s stock after selling 4,600 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned 0.29% of Gildan Activewear worth $21,262,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of GIL. Seizert Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Gildan Activewear by 93.2% in the 3rd quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC now owns 83,481 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $3,933,000 after purchasing an additional 40,271 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Gildan Activewear by 2.8% in the third quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,618,420 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $76,244,000 after buying an additional 44,725 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Gildan Activewear by 59.0% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 523,035 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $24,640,000 after buying an additional 194,128 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A. grew its holdings in shares of Gildan Activewear by 46.1% during the third quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 16,200 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $763,000 after buying an additional 5,110 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cumberland Partners Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Gildan Activewear in the 3rd quarter valued at $231,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.83% of the company’s stock.

Gildan Activewear Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of Gildan Activewear stock opened at $49.48 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 2.31. Gildan Activewear Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.68 and a fifty-two week high of $50.58. The company has a market cap of $7.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.44.

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The textile maker reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85. Gildan Activewear had a return on equity of 26.88% and a net margin of 13.06%. The company had revenue of $891.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $882.85 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.74 EPS. Gildan Activewear’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Gildan Activewear Inc. will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gildan Activewear Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.152 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $0.61 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.23%. Gildan Activewear’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.41%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. CIBC boosted their price target on Gildan Activewear from $48.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Gildan Activewear from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Gildan Activewear from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Gildan Activewear from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, TD Securities boosted their target price on shares of Gildan Activewear from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.85.

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.