Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Makes New Investment in Gildan Activewear, Inc. $GIL

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Gildan Activewear, Inc. (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 22,686 shares of the textile maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,171,000.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Islay Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Gildan Activewear during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Gildan Activewear by 3,516.7% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 434 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 422 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in Gildan Activewear by 161.8% in the second quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 555 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 343 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its position in Gildan Activewear by 14,833.3% in the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 448 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 445 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its stake in shares of Gildan Activewear by 867.9% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 513 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 460 shares during the last quarter. 82.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on GIL shares. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector outperform” rating and issued a $67.00 price objective (up from $65.00) on shares of Gildan Activewear in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Gildan Activewear in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $83.00 target price on Gildan Activewear and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Scotia upped their price target on Gildan Activewear from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Gildan Activewear in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Gildan Activewear currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.00.

Gildan Activewear Price Performance

NYSE GIL opened at $53.04 on Monday. Gildan Activewear, Inc. has a 1 year low of $46.55 and a 1 year high of $73.69. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $53.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.93, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The company has a market cap of $9.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 102.00 and a beta of 1.11.

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The textile maker reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.61 billion. Gildan Activewear had a net margin of 1.28% and a return on equity of 21.03%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 72.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.97 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Gildan Activewear, Inc. will post 4.67 EPS for the current year.

Gildan Activewear Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a $0.249 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Gildan Activewear’s payout ratio is presently 190.38%.

Gildan Activewear Company Profile

Gildan Activewear Inc (NYSE:GIL) is a vertically integrated manufacturer and wholesaler of branded basic apparel, including activewear, socks, hosiery and underwear. Headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, the company produces a wide range of products such as T-shirts, fleece garments, sport shirts, performance wear, and shapewear under its Gildan, Anvil, Comfort Colors, Gold Toe, Peds and Silks brands. Leveraging its in-house knitting, dyeing, cut-and-sew and finishing operations, Gildan supplies blank apparel to screen printers, promotional product distributors and major retailers around the world.

Since its founding in 1984 by Glenn J.