Royal Bank of Canada Acquires 1,193,718 Shares of Gildan Activewear, Inc. $GIL

Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in Gildan Activewear, Inc. (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) by 20.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,911,589 shares of the textile maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,193,718 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned 3.73% of Gildan Activewear worth $384,629,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GIL. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec grew its holdings in shares of Gildan Activewear by 1,695.7% during the 4th quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 6,240,014 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $390,539,000 after purchasing an additional 5,892,514 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Gildan Activewear in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $151,018,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in Gildan Activewear by 41.2% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 6,860,108 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $429,382,000 after buying an additional 2,001,279 shares in the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Gildan Activewear during the fourth quarter worth $99,870,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Gildan Activewear by 26.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,566,962 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $472,964,000 after buying an additional 1,561,729 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.83% of the company’s stock.

Gildan Activewear Stock Up 2.2%

Shares of GIL opened at $51.80 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $54.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.65. Gildan Activewear, Inc. has a 12 month low of $46.00 and a 12 month high of $73.69. The company has a market capitalization of $9.59 billion, a PE ratio of 30.47 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

Gildan Activewear (NYSE:GIL) (TSE:GIL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The textile maker reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. Gildan Activewear had a return on equity of 21.38% and a net margin of 6.10%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 63.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.59 earnings per share. Gildan Activewear has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.200-4.400 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Gildan Activewear, Inc. will post 4.25 EPS for the current year.

Gildan Activewear Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were issued a dividend of $0.249 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Gildan Activewear’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Gildan Activewear in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector outperform” rating and issued a $65.00 target price (down from $72.00) on shares of Gildan Activewear in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Weiss Ratings lowered Gildan Activewear from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce restated an “outperform” rating and set a $77.00 price target on shares of Gildan Activewear in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Gildan Activewear in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.21.

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.