Gildan Activewear (TSE:GIL) Hits New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Shares of Gildan Activewear Inc. (TSE:GIL) (NYSE:GIL) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as C$68.02 and last traded at C$67.89, with a volume of 121875 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$67.64.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on GIL. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Gildan Activewear from C$44.00 to C$54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. TD Securities boosted their price target on Gildan Activewear from C$46.00 to C$50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Desjardins lifted their price objective on shares of Gildan Activewear from C$63.00 to C$67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Gildan Activewear to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, National Bankshares lifted their target price on Gildan Activewear from C$58.00 to C$68.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Gildan Activewear currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of C$56.00.

Gildan Activewear Price Performance

The business’s 50-day moving average is C$62.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$55.14. The company has a market capitalization of C$10.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.55 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 72.52.

Gildan Activewear (TSE:GIL) (NYSE:GIL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported C$1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of C$0.99 by C$0.02. Gildan Activewear had a return on equity of 21.95% and a net margin of 13.01%. The business had revenue of C$1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$1.17 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Gildan Activewear Inc. will post 4.5460385 earnings per share for the current year.

Gildan Activewear Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.66%. This is a positive change from Gildan Activewear’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Gildan Activewear’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gildan Activewear

In related news, Senior Officer Benito Masi sold 50,000 shares of Gildan Activewear stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$41.55, for a total value of C$2,077,495.00. In other Gildan Activewear news, Senior Officer Benito Masi sold 50,000 shares of Gildan Activewear stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$41.55, for a total transaction of C$2,077,495.00. Also, Director Michener Chandlee purchased 1,196 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of C$40.85 per share, for a total transaction of C$48,856.60. Insiders have sold a total of 101,620 shares of company stock valued at $4,870,471 over the last three months. 2.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.