Lazard Asset Management LLC Buys 87,456 Shares of Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL)

Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) by 11.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 876,617 shares of the textile maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 87,456 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned 0.52% of Gildan Activewear worth $32,548,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in GIL. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Gildan Activewear in the fourth quarter worth $70,917,000. Browning West LP boosted its holdings in Gildan Activewear by 30.0% in the fourth quarter. Browning West LP now owns 8,640,448 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $285,653,000 after acquiring an additional 1,994,900 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. bought a new stake in Gildan Activewear in the fourth quarter worth $34,456,000. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in Gildan Activewear by 43.8% in the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,762,761 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $65,451,000 after acquiring an additional 537,215 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio boosted its holdings in Gildan Activewear by 443.6% in the fourth quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 588,202 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $19,547,000 after acquiring an additional 480,000 shares in the last quarter. 82.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Gildan Activewear Stock Performance

Gildan Activewear stock traded up $0.90 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $39.93. 490,971 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 428,606. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.62 billion, a PE ratio of 13.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 2.38 and a quick ratio of 0.92. Gildan Activewear Inc. has a 12-month low of $26.99 and a 12-month high of $40.24. The business’s 50-day moving average is $38.09 and its 200-day moving average is $35.80.

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The textile maker reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $695.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $692.94 million. Gildan Activewear had a return on equity of 24.00% and a net margin of 16.14%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Gildan Activewear Inc. will post 2.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gildan Activewear Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd were given a $0.205 dividend. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 22nd. Gildan Activewear’s payout ratio is 27.70%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on Gildan Activewear from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on Gildan Activewear from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $41.00 price target on shares of Gildan Activewear in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Gildan Activewear from $39.00 to $36.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Gildan Activewear currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.95.

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.