Raymond James & Associates Has $4.07 Million Holdings in Carter’s, Inc. (NYSE:CRI)

Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in shares of Carter’s, Inc. (NYSE:CRI) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 54,321 shares of the textile maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,463 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Carter’s were worth $4,068,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRI. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. acquired a new position in Carter’s during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Carter’s by 366.7% during the 3rd quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 490 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 385 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its position in Carter’s by 159.4% during the 1st quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 415 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Carter’s by 365.4% during the 4th quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 712 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 559 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its position in Carter’s by 129.7% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 627 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares during the period.

Insider Transactions at Carter’s

In other news, Director Mark Hipp sold 1,875 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.74, for a total transaction of $153,262.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,216 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $835,055.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 3.50% of the company’s stock.

Carter’s Stock Performance

Shares of CRI stock opened at $74.55 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 2.15. The company has a market capitalization of $2.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.29. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $81.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $74.42. Carter’s, Inc. has a 52 week low of $60.65 and a 52 week high of $88.03.

Carter’s (NYSE:CRI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The textile maker reported $2.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $858.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $867.81 million. Carter’s had a net margin of 7.89% and a return on equity of 28.79%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.29 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Carter’s, Inc. will post 6.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Carter’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 11th were paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. This is a boost from Carter’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.29%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. Carter’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CRI. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Carter’s from $76.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded shares of Carter’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Carter’s from $67.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Carter’s from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Carter’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $75.75.

About Carter’s

Carter's, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, designs, sources, and markets branded childrenswear under the Carter's, OshKosh, Skip Hop, Child of Mine, Just One You, Simple Joys, Little Planet, and other brands in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: U.S.