Retirement Systems of Alabama Has $3.45 Million Stake in Carter’s, Inc. (NYSE:CRI)

Retirement Systems of Alabama lowered its stake in shares of Carter’s, Inc. (NYSE:CRI) by 61.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 46,121 shares of the textile maker’s stock after selling 73,499 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Carter’s were worth $3,454,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CRI. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Carter’s by 28.6% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 630 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Carter’s by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,975 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $344,000 after buying an additional 230 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in shares of Carter’s by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 52,858 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $3,655,000 after buying an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio lifted its holdings in shares of Carter’s by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 17,058 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $1,179,000 after acquiring an additional 341 shares during the period. Finally, Xponance Inc. boosted its position in shares of Carter’s by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 4,930 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $341,000 after acquiring an additional 354 shares in the last quarter.

Carter’s Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRI opened at $68.71 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $78.03 and a 200-day moving average of $75.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 2.43. Carter’s, Inc. has a twelve month low of $60.65 and a twelve month high of $88.03. The firm has a market cap of $2.51 billion, a PE ratio of 10.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 1.32.

Carter’s (NYSE:CRI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The textile maker reported $2.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.24. Carter’s had a net margin of 8.06% and a return on equity of 28.55%. The company had revenue of $858.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $867.81 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.29 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Carter’s, Inc. will post 6.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Carter’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 11th were given a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. 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 yield of 4.66%. Carter’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.47%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mark Hipp sold 1,875 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.74, for a total value of $153,262.50. Following the completion of the sale, 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 SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRI has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Carter’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Carter’s from $75.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. UBS Group upped their price target on Carter’s from $76.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Wedbush lifted their price objective on Carter’s from $67.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Carter’s from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.80.

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.