Tower Research Capital LLC TRC Grows Position in Carter’s, Inc. (NYSE:CRI)

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in shares of Carter’s, Inc. (NYSE:CRI) by 81.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,768 shares of the textile maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,378 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC’s holdings in Carter’s were worth $529,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted 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 purchasing an additional 366,293 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Carter’s by 155.0% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in Carter’s by 33.3% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Carter’s by 13.6% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,248,489 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $67,651,000 after purchasing an additional 149,058 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Carter’s by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,245,943 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $67,518,000 after acquiring an additional 74,133 shares in the last quarter.

Carter’s Price Performance

Shares of Carter’s stock opened at $32.90 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $39.92 and a 200 day moving average of $49.75. Carter’s, Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.12 and a 12 month high of $72.11. The firm has a market cap of $1.18 billion, a PE ratio of 5.22, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 2.21, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Carter’s (NYSE:CRI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The textile maker reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.13. Carter’s had a return on equity of 27.15% and a net margin of 8.11%. The company had revenue of $291.09 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $624.86 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Carter’s, Inc. will post 5.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Carter’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.73%. Carter’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.80%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CRI. Barclays began coverage on Carter’s in a research note on Monday. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $25.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Carter’s from $37.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Carter’s from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Carter’s from $65.00 to $48.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.80.

Carter’s 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.