Equity Investment Corp Decreases Position in Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL)

Equity Investment Corp decreased its holdings in Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) by 15.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,685 shares of the textile maker’s stock after selling 863 shares during the quarter. Equity Investment Corp’s holdings in Gildan Activewear were worth $221,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Gildan Activewear in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Gildan Activewear by 96.1% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 810 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. Natixis acquired a new position in shares of Gildan Activewear in the first quarter worth about $51,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Gildan Activewear in the second quarter worth about $51,000. Finally, Tobam acquired a new position in shares of Gildan Activewear in the second quarter worth about $53,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.83% of the company’s stock.

Gildan Activewear Stock Performance

Shares of GIL stock opened at $48.29 on Monday. Gildan Activewear Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.68 and a 12-month high of $50.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.44. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $47.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 2.31 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The textile maker reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85. Gildan Activewear had a return on equity of 26.88% and a net margin of 13.06%. The business had revenue of $891.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $882.85 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.74 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Gildan Activewear Inc. will post 2.97 EPS for the current year.

Gildan Activewear Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.152 per share. This represents a $0.61 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Gildan Activewear’s payout ratio is currently 32.41%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on GIL. Citigroup boosted their price target on Gildan Activewear from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Gildan Activewear from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Gildan Activewear from $47.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on Gildan Activewear from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Gildan Activewear from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.85.

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.