Carter’s (NYSE:CRI) Cut to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Carter’s (NYSE:CRI) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report published on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Carter’s in a report on Tuesday, September 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $40.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Carter’s in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Weiss Ratings upgraded Carter’s from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Carter’s from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $30.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Carter’s from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $40.88.

Carter’s Price Performance

CRI opened at $31.01 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $35.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 1.50. The firm has a market cap of $1.14 billion, a PE ratio of 5.81, a P/E/G ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.84. Carter’s has a 1 year low of $27.15 and a 1 year high of $44.44.

Carter’s (NYSE:CRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 31st. The textile maker reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $615.49 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $605.68 million. Carter’s had a net margin of 6.55% and a return on equity of 12.78%. Carter’s’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.17 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Carter’s will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Carter’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 1st. Carter’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.73%.

Institutional Trading of Carter’s

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. WINTON GROUP Ltd increased its position in Carter’s by 1.9% during the second quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 17,560 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $723,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP bought a new position in Carter’s in the second quarter valued at about $2,260,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its position in Carter’s by 114.7% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 97,709 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $4,022,000 after purchasing an additional 52,193 shares during the last quarter. Nykredit A S purchased a new position in Carter’s in the second quarter worth about $72,000. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new stake in shares of Carter’s during the 2nd quarter valued at about $399,000.

Carter’s Company Profile

Carter’s, Inc (NYSE:CRI) is a specialty retailer and branded marketer of apparel, accessories and related products for babies and young children. The company’s portfolio includes Carter’s, OshKosh B’gosh, Skip Hop and Little Planet, offering items such as bodysuits, sleepwear, playwear, footwear, outerwear, accessories, baby gear and nursery products.

Founded in 1865 by William Carter, the company has developed into a major children’s apparel business. Carter’s products are sold through company-operated retail stores, e-commerce websites and wholesale partners, including department stores, mass merchants, specialty retailers and other distribution channels.

The company primarily serves customers in the United States and Canada, while also reaching international markets through select wholesale, licensing and distribution arrangements.