Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL) Sets New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Shares of Gildan Activewear, Inc. (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $65.50 and last traded at $65.1930, with a volume of 464923 shares. The stock had previously closed at $63.33.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on GIL. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Gildan Activewear in a report on Monday, December 29th. Scotiabank set a $66.00 target price on Gildan Activewear and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Gildan Activewear from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Zacks Research lowered Gildan Activewear from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Gildan Activewear from $67.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Gildan Activewear currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.46.

Gildan Activewear Stock Up 4.7%

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $60.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $57.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 2.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.18 and a beta of 1.11.

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The textile maker reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.02. Gildan Activewear had a return on equity of 35.53% and a net margin of 14.13%.The firm had revenue of $910.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $925.24 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.85 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. Gildan Activewear has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.450-3.510 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Gildan Activewear, Inc. will post 3.48 EPS for the current year.

Gildan Activewear Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 19th were paid a dividend of $0.226 per share. This represents a $0.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 19th. Gildan Activewear’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.75%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gildan Activewear

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Gildan Activewear in the 2nd quarter valued at $101,409,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in Gildan Activewear by 61.9% in the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 4,434,020 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $218,622,000 after purchasing an additional 1,695,329 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Gildan Activewear by 95.2% in the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,799,309 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $161,749,000 after buying an additional 1,364,953 shares during the period. Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Gildan Activewear during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $65,409,000. Finally, Hudson Way Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Gildan Activewear during the third quarter valued at approximately $57,530,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.83% of the company’s stock.

About Gildan Activewear

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.