Strs Ohio Sells 1,505 Shares of Carter’s, Inc. (NYSE:CRI)

Strs Ohio decreased its stake in shares of Carter’s, Inc. (NYSE:CRI) by 8.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,553 shares of the textile maker’s stock after selling 1,505 shares during the period. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Carter’s were worth $1,164,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRI. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC bought a new position in Carter’s during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,588,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Carter’s by 59.3% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 632,671 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $47,381,000 after acquiring an additional 235,431 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Carter’s by 270.4% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 309,049 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $21,371,000 after acquiring an additional 225,614 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Carter’s by 35.5% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 420,537 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $29,080,000 after acquiring an additional 110,173 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Carter’s by 5.5% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,713,889 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $118,515,000 after acquiring an additional 90,094 shares during the period.

Insider Activity at Carter’s

In related news, Director Mark Hipp sold 1,875 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 $835,055.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Carter’s Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CRI opened at $72.01 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $80.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $74.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The stock has a market cap of $2.64 billion, a PE ratio of 11.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.29. Carter’s, Inc. has a 1 year low of $60.65 and a 1 year high of $88.03.

Carter’s (NYSE:CRI) last posted its 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. 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%. Carter’s’s quarterly revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.29 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Carter’s, Inc. will post 6.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Carter’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.44%. This is a boost from Carter’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. Carter’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.04%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded shares of Carter’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Carter’s from $66.00 to $64.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Carter’s from $76.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of Carter’s from $67.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Carter’s from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $75.25.

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.