Easterly Investment Partners LLC Raises Stake in Carter’s, Inc. (NYSE:CRI)

Easterly Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Carter’s, Inc. (NYSE:CRI) by 15.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 32,268 shares of the textile maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,335 shares during the period. Easterly Investment Partners LLC owned about 0.09% of Carter’s worth $1,749,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Carter’s by 36.9% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 994 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in shares of Carter’s by 114.4% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 506 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in shares of Carter’s by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 4,073 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $221,000 after buying an additional 272 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its holdings in Carter’s by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 17,652 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $1,147,000 after buying an additional 396 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd boosted its position in Carter’s by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 7,619 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $495,000 after buying an additional 417 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Carter’s from $57.00 to $49.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Carter’s from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Carter’s from $65.00 to $48.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.00.

Carter’s Stock Performance

Carter’s stock opened at $41.33 on Friday. Carter’s, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.84 and a fifty-two week high of $86.24. The stock has a market cap of $1.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.56, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 1.24. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $47.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $54.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 2.21.

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

Carter’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.74%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Carter’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.62%.

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.