O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Decreases Stake in Carter’s, Inc. (NYSE:CRI)

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC reduced its holdings in Carter’s, Inc. (NYSE:CRI) by 28.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 11,855 shares of the textile maker’s stock after selling 4,664 shares during the quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Carter’s were worth $642,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Carter’s by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,895,549 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $211,100,000 after buying an additional 366,293 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Carter’s by 155.0% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,851,079 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $154,500,000 after buying an additional 1,732,857 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Carter’s by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,245,943 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $67,518,000 after buying an additional 74,133 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Carter’s by 15.4% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,067,176 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $57,830,000 after buying an additional 142,514 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its position in shares of Carter’s by 40.5% in the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 591,246 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $32,040,000 after buying an additional 170,528 shares during the last quarter.

Carter’s Trading Up 18.6 %

Carter’s stock opened at $39.03 on Thursday. 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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $52.37. Carter’s, Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.12 and a 12 month high of $75.11. The company has a market capitalization of $1.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 1.09.

Carter’s (NYSE:CRI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The textile maker reported $2.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.52. Carter’s had a return on equity of 27.15% and a net margin of 8.11%. The business had revenue of $859.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $835.82 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.76 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Carter’s, Inc. will post 5.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Carter’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Carter’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CRI shares. UBS Group cut their price objective on Carter’s from $57.00 to $49.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Carter’s from $65.00 to $48.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. 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 report on Wednesday, February 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.00.

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.