Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV Acquires 1,786 Shares of Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL)

Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) by 1.7% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 108,140 shares of the textile maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,786 shares during the period. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV’s holdings in Gildan Activewear were worth $4,015,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new position in Gildan Activewear during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,456,000. Strs Ohio grew its holdings in Gildan Activewear by 443.6% during the fourth quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 588,202 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $19,547,000 after purchasing an additional 480,000 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in Gildan Activewear by 3,837,975.0% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 153,523 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $5,075,000 after purchasing an additional 153,519 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Gildan Activewear by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,712,021 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $89,732,000 after acquiring an additional 29,193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Gildan Activewear in the fourth quarter worth $70,917,000. Institutional investors own 82.83% of the company’s stock.

Gildan Activewear Stock Performance

Shares of GIL stock traded up $0.55 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $38.63. 160,546 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 803,215. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.51 billion, a PE ratio of 12.86, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.43. Gildan Activewear Inc. has a twelve month low of $26.99 and a twelve month high of $39.07. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $36.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.01.

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

Gildan Activewear Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.205 per share. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 22nd. Gildan Activewear’s payout ratio is presently 27.70%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GIL shares. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on shares of Gildan Activewear from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on Gildan Activewear from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $41.00 target price on shares of Gildan Activewear in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, TD Securities raised their target price on Gildan Activewear from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Gildan Activewear currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $41.95.

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.