Northern Trust Corp Buys 49,577 Shares of Carter’s, Inc. (NYSE:CRI)

Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Carter’s, Inc. (NYSE:CRI) by 12.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 443,502 shares of the textile maker’s stock after buying an additional 49,577 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp’s holdings in Carter’s were worth $24,033,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CRI. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Carter’s by 58.7% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 20,077 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $1,304,000 after purchasing an additional 7,429 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Carter’s by 109.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 38,617 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $2,468,000 after acquiring an additional 20,210 shares during the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Carter’s by 66.7% in the 4th quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,182 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $281,000 after acquiring an additional 2,074 shares during the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new position in Carter’s in the 4th quarter worth approximately $410,000. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its holdings in Carter’s by 23.6% in the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 37,026 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $2,006,000 after acquiring an additional 7,075 shares during the last quarter.

Carter’s Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CRI opened at $35.92 on Tuesday. Carter’s, Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.04 and a 12-month high of $72.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 2.21, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $37.72 and a 200 day moving average of $47.55.

Carter’s (NYSE:CRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The textile maker reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.13. Carter’s had a net margin of 8.11% and a return on equity of 27.15%. The firm had revenue of $291.09 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $624.86 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Carter’s, Inc. will post 5.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Carter’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Carter’s’s payout ratio is 70.80%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Carter’s in a report on Monday, April 28th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $25.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Carter’s from $37.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Carter’s from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $40.00 to $25.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Carter’s from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Carter’s presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $36.20.

Carter’s Profile

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.