Swiss National Bank Has $19.30 Million Stock Position in Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL)

Swiss National Bank lowered its holdings in shares of Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) by 9.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 410,300 shares of the textile maker’s stock after selling 40,700 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Gildan Activewear were worth $19,300,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in Gildan Activewear by 604.1% in the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,850,971 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $86,999,000 after acquiring an additional 1,588,071 shares in the last quarter. Forge First Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Gildan Activewear by 108.0% in the fourth quarter. Forge First Asset Management Inc. now owns 46,600 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $2,191,000 after acquiring an additional 24,200 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Gildan Activewear by 185.3% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,454 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $115,000 after acquiring an additional 1,594 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Gildan Activewear by 34.7% in the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 13,116 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $617,000 after acquiring an additional 3,376 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in Gildan Activewear by 80.9% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 245,926 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $11,568,000 after acquiring an additional 109,993 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.83% of the company’s stock.

Gildan Activewear Stock Performance

Shares of GIL opened at $46.36 on Wednesday. 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 capitalization of $7.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.54, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.39. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $50.72 and a 200 day moving average of $48.64. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The textile maker reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by ($0.30). The business had revenue of $822.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $805.75 million. Gildan Activewear had a net margin of 12.26% and a return on equity of 28.80%. The business’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.75 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Gildan Activewear Inc. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Gildan Activewear Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given a $0.226 dividend. This is an increase from Gildan Activewear’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. Gildan Activewear’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on GIL shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Gildan Activewear from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Citigroup raised their target price on Gildan Activewear from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. UBS Group raised their target price on Gildan Activewear from $60.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. CIBC raised their target price on Gildan Activewear from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, TD Securities raised their target price on Gildan Activewear from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Gildan Activewear has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price 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.