Carter's (NYSE:CRI) Shares Gap Down - What's Next?

Carter's, Inc. (NYSE:CRI - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $38.23, but opened at $36.00. Carter's shares last traded at $35.10, with a volume of 224,111 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CRI. UBS Group reduced 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 on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Carter's from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $40.00 to $25.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Carter's in a report on Monday. They set an "underweight" rating and a $25.00 target price for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Carter's presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $36.20.

Carter's Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 2.21 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The company has a market capitalization of $1.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.27, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 1.09. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $39.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.64.

Carter's (NYSE:CRI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The textile maker reported $0.66 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $291.09 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $624.86 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. Carter's's revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Carter's, Inc. will post 5.15 EPS for the current year.

Carter's Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Carter's's payout ratio is 70.80%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Carter's

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in shares of Carter's by 114.4% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 506 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Carter's by 2,112.5% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 531 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 507 shares during the period. Colonial Trust Co SC acquired a new stake in shares of Carter's in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in Carter's by 80.9% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,062 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in Carter's by 173.0% during the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 901 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 571 shares in the last quarter.

Carter's Company 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.