Carter's, Inc. (NYSE:CRI) Stock Rated "Moderate Buy" by Wall Street Brokerages

Key Points

• Carter’s received a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating from 10 analysts, with an average 12-month price target of $39.38. Ratings included four buys, two strong buys, three holds and one sell.
• The company exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting EPS of $0.26 versus the $0.06 consensus and revenue of $615.49 million, up 5.2% year over year.
• Carter’s paid a quarterly dividend of $0.25, equating to an annualized $1.00 dividend and a 3.1% yield. Shares opened at $32.02, near the lower half of their 52-week range of $27.67 to $44.44.

Carter's, Inc. (NYSE:CRI - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" by the ten ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation, four have issued a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $39.38.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CRI. Weiss Ratings upgraded Carter's from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Carter's from $42.00 to $30.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Carter's in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Carter's from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, September 26th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Carter's in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st.

Carter's Stock Performance

CRI opened at $32.02 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.18 billion, a PE ratio of 6.00, a P/E/G ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.57. Carter's has a fifty-two week low of $27.67 and a fifty-two week high of $44.44.

Carter's (NYSE:CRI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The textile maker reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.06 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $615.49 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $605.68 million. Carter's had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 6.55%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.17 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Carter's will post 3.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Carter's Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 1st. Carter's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.73%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Carter's

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Carter's by 36.6% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,765,205 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $63,121,000 after purchasing an additional 472,786 shares during the period. Rubric Capital Management LP raised its stake in Carter's by 121.5% during the 1st quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 1,018,853 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $36,434,000 after purchasing an additional 558,853 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Carter's during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,348,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Carter's by 11.9% in the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 645,863 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $26,584,000 after purchasing an additional 68,464 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aristides Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Carter's by 123.3% in the first quarter. Aristides Capital LLC now owns 163,949 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $5,863,000 after purchasing an additional 90,533 shares in the last quarter.

Carter's Company Profile

Carter's, Inc NYSE: CRI is a designer, marketer and retailer of apparel and related products for babies and young children. The company's offerings include bodysuits, sleepwear, playwear, outerwear, footwear, accessories, gifts, bedding and other products for infants, toddlers and young children.

Carter's markets products primarily under the Carter's and OshKosh B'gosh brands, as well as Skip Hop, which offers baby and children's gear, accessories and related products. The company sells through its own retail stores and websites, wholesale partners, department stores, mass merchants and other retailers.

The company traces its history to 1865, when it was established as the William Carter Company.

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