Carter’s (NYSE:CRI) Trading Up 7% – Should You Buy?

Carter’s, Inc. (NYSE:CRI)’s stock price shot up 7% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $31.16 and last traded at $32.0150. 50,690 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 97% from the average session volume of 1,448,990 shares. The stock had previously closed at $29.93.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup upped their price objective on Carter’s from $28.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Barclays boosted their price target on Carter’s from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. UBS Group upped their price target on Carter’s from $26.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Carter’s from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Carter’s in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Strong Sell” and a consensus target price of $29.50.

Carter’s Stock Up 6.7%

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $30.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.21. The company has a market cap of $1.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.89 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 2.26.

Carter’s (NYSE:CRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 27th. The textile maker reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $757.84 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $760.11 million. Carter’s had a net margin of 3.15% and a return on equity of 16.71%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.64 EPS. Research analysts expect that Carter’s, Inc. will post 5.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Carter’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 24th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Carter’s’s payout ratio is currently 40.49%.

Institutional Trading of Carter’s

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. RWWM Inc. lifted its stake in Carter’s by 44.8% in the 3rd quarter. RWWM Inc. now owns 5,900,170 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $166,503,000 after acquiring an additional 1,824,379 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Carter’s by 1.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,226,804 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $119,280,000 after purchasing an additional 46,560 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Carter’s by 113.7% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,564,457 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $77,267,000 after purchasing an additional 1,364,698 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Carter’s by 14,270.6% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,631,493 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $66,728,000 after purchasing an additional 1,620,140 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Carter’s by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,349,872 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $38,093,000 after buying an additional 87,374 shares during the period.

About Carter’s

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.