589 Shares in Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL) Acquired by Plato Investment Management Ltd

Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 589 shares of the textile maker’s stock, valued at approximately $28,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in Gildan Activewear by 61.8% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 872 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Gildan Activewear by 899.0% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,009 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 908 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its position in Gildan Activewear by 561.9% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 1,423 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 1,208 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Gildan Activewear by 80.1% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,459 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 649 shares during the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Gildan Activewear in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $165,000. Institutional investors own 82.83% of the company’s stock.

Gildan Activewear Price Performance

GIL opened at $51.05 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $48.34. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The company has a market cap of $7.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.41. Gildan Activewear Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.23 and a 12-month 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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by ($0.30). The firm had revenue of $822.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $805.75 million. Gildan Activewear had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 12.26%. Gildan Activewear’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.75 EPS. Research analysts predict that Gildan Activewear Inc. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.226 dividend. This is an increase from Gildan Activewear’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.77%. Gildan Activewear’s dividend payout ratio is 36.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on GIL. TD Securities boosted their price objective on Gildan Activewear from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Gildan Activewear from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Gildan Activewear from $60.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Gildan Activewear from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Gildan Activewear from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.00.

About Gildan Activewear

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.