BMO Capital Markets Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL) Stock

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) had its target price raised by research analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $70.00 to $78.00 in a research note issued on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the textile maker’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price target would indicate a potential upside of 16.10% from the stock’s previous close.

GIL has been the topic of several other reports. Scotiabank set a $66.00 price objective on shares of Gildan Activewear and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $74.00 price target on shares of Gildan Activewear in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Gildan Activewear from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Desjardins increased their target price on Gildan Activewear from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $110.00 price target (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Gildan Activewear in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Gildan Activewear has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.77.

Gildan Activewear Stock Performance

Gildan Activewear stock opened at $67.18 on Monday. Gildan Activewear has a twelve month low of $37.16 and a twelve month high of $67.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The company has a market capitalization of $12.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.46 and a beta of 1.11. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $61.50 and its 200 day moving average is $57.90.

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The textile maker reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $910.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $925.24 million. Gildan Activewear had a return on equity of 35.53% and a net margin of 14.13%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.85 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Gildan Activewear will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gildan Activewear

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Gildan Activewear by 0.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,005,233 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $346,928,000 after buying an additional 32,917 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Gildan Activewear by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 4,858,829 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $280,639,000 after acquiring an additional 424,809 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of Gildan Activewear by 24.3% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 3,678,451 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $180,305,000 after purchasing an additional 718,896 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised 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 worth $161,749,000 after purchasing an additional 1,364,953 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Gildan Activewear in the 2nd quarter worth $101,409,000. Institutional investors 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.