Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Raises Stock Holdings in Carter’s, Inc. (NYSE:CRI)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Carter’s, Inc. (NYSE:CRI) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 933,576 shares of the textile maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,008 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in Carter’s were worth $69,916,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC bought a new position in Carter’s during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,588,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Carter’s by 59.3% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 632,671 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $47,381,000 after buying an additional 235,431 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Carter’s by 270.4% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 309,049 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $21,371,000 after buying an additional 225,614 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Carter’s by 35.5% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 420,537 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $29,080,000 after acquiring an additional 110,173 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in Carter’s by 585.0% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 111,163 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $8,325,000 after acquiring an additional 94,935 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Mark Hipp sold 1,875 shares of Carter’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.74, for a total transaction of $153,262.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 10,216 shares in the company, valued at $835,055.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 3.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on CRI shares. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Carter’s from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Wedbush upped their target price on shares of Carter’s from $67.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Carter’s from $76.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Carter’s from $75.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt cut Carter’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $73.80.

Carter’s Stock Performance

CRI opened at $65.91 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $74.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $75.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 2.43 and a quick ratio of 1.30. The firm has a market cap of $2.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.40, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 1.32. Carter’s, Inc. has a 1-year low of $60.65 and a 1-year high of $88.03.

Carter’s (NYSE:CRI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The textile maker reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $661.49 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $633.05 million. Carter’s had a return on equity of 28.55% and a net margin of 8.06%. Equities analysts forecast that Carter’s, Inc. will post 6.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Carter’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 28th will be issued a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 24th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.86%. Carter’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.47%.

About Carter’s

Carter's, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, designs, sources, and markets branded childrenswear under the Carter's, OshKosh, Skip Hop, Child of Mine, Just One You, Simple Joys, Little Planet, and other brands in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: U.S.