Royal Bank Of Canada Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL) Stock

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) had its target price upped by Royal Bank Of Canada from $61.00 to $68.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the textile maker’s stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 20.48% from the company’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on GIL. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Gildan Activewear in a research report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Gildan Activewear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Gildan Activewear to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Gildan Activewear from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, TD Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Gildan Activewear from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Gildan Activewear has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $64.58.

Gildan Activewear Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GIL opened at $56.44 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $50.47 and a 200 day moving average of $48.42. The stock has a market cap of $8.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.17. Gildan Activewear has a 12 month low of $37.16 and a 12 month high of $57.76. The company has a current ratio of 3.87, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The textile maker reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.01. Gildan Activewear had a net margin of 14.55% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The business had revenue of $918.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $908.41 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.74 earnings per share. Gildan Activewear’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Gildan Activewear will post 3.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GIL. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Gildan Activewear during the 4th quarter valued at $3,744,000. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in Gildan Activewear in the 4th quarter worth about $952,000. Bridgewater Associates LP boosted its stake in Gildan Activewear by 104.6% in the 4th quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 246,615 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $11,600,000 after purchasing an additional 126,056 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its stake in Gildan Activewear by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 147,278 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $6,857,000 after purchasing an additional 793 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP purchased a new position in shares of Gildan Activewear during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,287,000. 82.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.