Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 4,145 Shares of Carter’s, Inc. (NYSE:CRI)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Carter’s, Inc. (NYSE:CRI) by 2.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 178,959 shares of the textile maker’s stock after buying an additional 4,145 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.50% of Carter’s worth $7,319,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Carter’s by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,895,549 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $211,100,000 after buying an additional 366,293 shares during the period. RWWM Inc. boosted its position in shares of Carter’s by 145.3% during the 1st quarter. RWWM Inc. now owns 2,190,482 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $89,591,000 after purchasing an additional 1,297,607 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Carter’s by 33.3% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,919,953 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $104,042,000 after purchasing an additional 479,961 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Carter’s by 124.4% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,739,522 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $93,134,000 after purchasing an additional 964,494 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Carter’s by 13.6% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,248,489 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $67,651,000 after purchasing an additional 149,058 shares in the last quarter.

Carter’s Stock Down 3.4%

Shares of NYSE:CRI opened at $30.78 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $32.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $40.46. The firm has a market cap of $1.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.81 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 2.56. Carter’s, Inc. has a 52-week low of $29.36 and a 52-week high of $71.99.

Carter’s (NYSE:CRI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The textile maker reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.13. Carter’s had a return on equity of 23.50% and a net margin of 5.80%. The business had revenue of $291.09 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $624.86 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Carter’s, Inc. will post 5.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Carter’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 3rd were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 2nd. This is a positive change from Carter’s’s previous dividend of $0.22. Carter’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on CRI. UBS Group cut their target price on Carter’s from $37.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Carter’s from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Barclays began coverage on Carter’s in a research report on Monday, April 28th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $25.00 target price on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Carter’s currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $36.80.

About Carter’s

Carter’s, Inc engages in the business of brand marketing of young children’s apparel. It operates through the following segments: the United States (US) Retail, US Wholesale, and International. The US Retail segment includes selling products through retail stores and ecommerce websites. The US Wholesale segment focuses on wholesale partners.