Gildan Activewear (TSE:GIL) Hits New 1-Year High on Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Gildan Activewear Inc. (TSE:GIL) (NYSE:GIL) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The company traded as high as C$76.90 and last traded at C$76.59, with a volume of 324667 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at C$73.70.

The company reported C$0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of C$0.82 by C$0.01. Gildan Activewear had a return on equity of 23.10% and a net margin of 13.05%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.75 EPS.

Gildan Activewear Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.205 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.07%. Gildan Activewear’s payout ratio is 29.76%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on GIL. National Bankshares lifted their target price on Gildan Activewear from C$68.00 to C$74.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group raised Gildan Activewear from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Gildan Activewear has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of C$57.20.

Insider Transactions at Gildan Activewear

In other news, Senior Officer Benito Masi sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$69.31, for a total value of C$693,102.00. Company insiders own 2.26% of the company’s stock.

Gildan Activewear Stock Up 3.9 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 101.26, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 2.31. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of C$70.55 and a 200 day moving average price of C$65.77. The company has a market cap of C$8.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.54, a P/E/G ratio of 4.55 and a beta of 1.64.

Gildan Activewear Company Profile

Gildan is a vertically integrated designer and manufacturer of basic apparel, including T-shirts, underwear, socks, and hosiery. Its primary market is the sale of blank T-shirts to wholesalers and printers (printwear). Gildan also sells branded clothing through retail and direct-to-consumer channels.