Carter’s, Inc. (NYSE:CRI) Receives Consensus Rating of “Reduce” from Analysts

Shares of Carter’s, Inc. (NYSE:CRI) have been assigned an average rating of “Reduce” from the five analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $75.75.

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded Carter’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. StockNews.com downgraded Carter’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Carter’s from $76.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Carter’s from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Wedbush boosted their target price on Carter’s from $67.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd.

Carter’s Trading Down 1.8 %

NYSE CRI opened at $71.80 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Carter’s has a twelve month low of $60.65 and a twelve month high of $88.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.63 billion, a PE ratio of 11.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.29. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $81.28 and its 200 day moving average is $74.56.

Carter’s (NYSE:CRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The textile maker reported $2.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.24. Carter’s had a return on equity of 28.79% and a net margin of 7.89%. The company had revenue of $858.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $867.81 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.29 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Carter’s 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 issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This is an increase from Carter’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. Carter’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.04%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mark Hipp sold 1,875 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.74, for a total transaction of $153,262.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,216 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $835,055.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Carter’s

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its position in Carter’s by 159.4% during the first quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 415 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. purchased a new stake in Carter’s during the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Carter’s by 366.7% during the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 490 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 385 shares during the last quarter. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Carter’s during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its position in Carter’s by 129.7% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 627 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 354 shares in the last quarter.

Carter’s Company Profile

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.