Carter's (NYSE:CRI) Upgraded to Strong Sell at Barclays

Barclays upgraded shares of Carter's (NYSE:CRI - Free Report) to a strong sell rating in a report issued on Monday morning, Marketbeat reports. They currently have $25.00 target price on the textile maker's stock.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on CRI. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price 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. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Carter's from $37.00 to $32.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Carter's from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $36.20.

Carter's Stock Up 4.9 %

Shares of NYSE:CRI traded up $1.62 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $34.96. The company had a trading volume of 1,479,360 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,239,959. The business's 50 day moving average price is $38.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $48.84. Carter's has a 1-year low of $32.04 and a 1-year high of $72.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 2.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The stock has a market cap of $1.27 billion, a PE ratio of 5.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 1.05.

Carter's (NYSE:CRI - Get Free Report) 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 net margin of 8.11% and a return on equity of 27.15%. The firm had revenue of $291.09 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $624.86 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Carter's will post 5.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Carter's Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.15%. Carter's's payout ratio is currently 70.80%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Carter's in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,609,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Carter's by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,245,943 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $67,518,000 after purchasing an additional 74,133 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Carter's by 109.0% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 174,814 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $9,473,000 after purchasing an additional 91,162 shares in the last quarter. Ruffer LLP bought a new position in shares of Carter's during the fourth quarter worth approximately $635,000. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Carter's by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 530,582 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $28,752,000 after purchasing an additional 9,675 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.