Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV Boosts Stake in Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL)

Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV increased its position in Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) by 1.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 108,140 shares of the textile maker’s stock after buying an additional 1,786 shares during the period. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV owned 0.06% of Gildan Activewear worth $4,015,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CWM LLC increased its stake in Gildan Activewear by 86.5% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,074 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 498 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in shares of Gildan Activewear by 529.3% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,215 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 1,863 shares during the last quarter. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new position in shares of Gildan Activewear during the first quarter valued at approximately $84,000. Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in shares of Gildan Activewear during the first quarter valued at approximately $122,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Gildan Activewear by 60.4% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,213 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $118,000 after buying an additional 1,586 shares during the last quarter. 82.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Gildan Activewear Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of GIL traded up $0.55 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $38.63. 160,546 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 803,215. Gildan Activewear Inc. has a 1 year low of $26.99 and a 1 year high of $39.07. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $36.36 and its 200-day moving average is $35.01. The company has a current ratio of 2.38, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.43.

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The textile maker reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.07. Gildan Activewear had a return on equity of 24.00% and a net margin of 16.14%. The firm had revenue of $695.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $692.94 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Gildan Activewear Inc. will post 2.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Gildan Activewear Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 23rd were given a $0.205 dividend. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 22nd. Gildan Activewear’s payout ratio is 27.70%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $41.00 target price on shares of Gildan Activewear in a research note on Monday, April 8th. TD Securities upped their target price on Gildan Activewear from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on Gildan Activewear from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on Gildan Activewear from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Gildan Activewear has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.95.

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.