Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Trims Stake in Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA cut its stake in Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) by 45.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 812,069 shares of the textile maker’s stock after selling 675,731 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned 0.53% of Gildan Activewear worth $38,208,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of GIL. Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Gildan Activewear in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in Gildan Activewear by 61.8% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 872 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 333 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Gildan Activewear by 500.0% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 894 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 745 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Gildan Activewear by 899.0% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,009 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 908 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers lifted its position in Gildan Activewear by 561.9% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 1,423 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 1,208 shares during the period. 82.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GIL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Gildan Activewear from $60.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Gildan Activewear from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. CIBC boosted their target price on Gildan Activewear from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on Gildan Activewear from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Gildan Activewear from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $60.00.

Gildan Activewear Trading Down 4.8 %

Gildan Activewear stock opened at $39.78 on Friday. Gildan Activewear Inc. has a one year low of $32.23 and a one year high of $55.39. The business’s fifty day moving average is $49.46 and its 200 day moving average is $48.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.05 billion, a PE ratio of 15.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.39.

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 company 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 earned $0.75 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Gildan Activewear Inc. will post 3.48 EPS for the current year.

Gildan Activewear Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be paid 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 dividend yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. Gildan Activewear’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.00%.

Gildan Activewear Company 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.