Cannell & Spears LLC Lowers Stock Position in Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL)

Cannell & Spears LLC trimmed its stake in Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) by 29.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 368,881 shares of the textile maker’s stock after selling 157,009 shares during the period. Cannell & Spears LLC owned about 0.24% of Gildan Activewear worth $17,356,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GIL. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Gildan Activewear during the third quarter worth $544,000. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in Gildan Activewear by 171.1% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 17,720 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $835,000 after acquiring an additional 11,184 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC purchased a new position in Gildan Activewear during the 3rd quarter valued at about $253,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in Gildan Activewear by 92.8% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 135,933 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $6,405,000 after acquiring an additional 65,428 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its stake in Gildan Activewear by 106.5% during the third quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 48,573 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $2,286,000 after purchasing an additional 25,050 shares during the period. 82.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Gildan Activewear Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GIL opened at $44.94 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $50.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $48.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 2.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.83 billion, a PE ratio of 17.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.39. Gildan Activewear Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.23 and a fifty-two week high of $55.39.

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The textile maker reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.13 by ($0.30). The company had revenue of $822.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $805.75 million. Gildan Activewear had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 12.26%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.75 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Gildan Activewear Inc. will post 3.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gildan Activewear Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given a $0.226 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. This is a boost from Gildan Activewear’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. Gildan Activewear’s dividend payout ratio is 36.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on GIL. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Gildan Activewear from $60.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Gildan Activewear from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. CIBC increased their price objective on Gildan Activewear from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Gildan Activewear from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on Gildan Activewear from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.00.

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.