Carter’s, Inc. (NYSE:CRI) Short Interest Up 5.3% in January

Carter’s, Inc. (NYSE:CRI) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,120,000 shares, an increase of 5.3% from the January 15th total of 4,860,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,110,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.6 days. Approximately 14.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup raised Carter’s from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $50.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Carter’s from $72.00 to $65.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Carter’s has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.67.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CRI. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Carter’s by 10.4% during 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. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings 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 valued at $154,500,000 after purchasing an additional 1,732,857 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Carter’s by 33.3% in 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 during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Carter’s by 124.4% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,739,522 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $93,134,000 after purchasing an additional 964,494 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Carter’s by 4.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,545,436 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $100,422,000 after purchasing an additional 60,089 shares during the period.

Carter’s Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE:CRI traded up $1.34 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $53.06. The company had a trading volume of 1,093,974 shares, compared to its average volume of 762,548. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $53.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 2.21. The firm has a market cap of $1.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.21. Carter’s has a 1-year low of $49.65 and a 1-year high of $88.03.

Carter’s Company 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.