17,928 Shares in Carter's, Inc. (NYSE:CRI) Bought by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund purchased a new position in Carter's, Inc. (NYSE:CRI - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 17,928 shares of the textile maker's stock, valued at approximately $733,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Carter's by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,895,549 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $211,100,000 after purchasing an additional 366,293 shares during the last quarter. RWWM Inc. raised its position in shares of Carter's by 145.3% in the 1st quarter. RWWM Inc. now owns 2,190,482 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $89,591,000 after purchasing an additional 1,297,607 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Carter's by 33.3% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,919,953 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $104,042,000 after purchasing an additional 479,961 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Carter's by 124.4% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,739,522 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $93,134,000 after purchasing an additional 964,494 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Carter's by 13.6% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,248,489 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $67,651,000 after purchasing an additional 149,058 shares during the last quarter.

Carter's Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of CRI opened at $32.17 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.12 and a beta of 0.98. Carter's, Inc. has a 1 year low of $29.36 and a 1 year high of $71.99. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $32.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 2.56 and a quick ratio of 1.40.

Carter's (NYSE:CRI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The textile maker reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.13. Carter's had a return on equity of 23.50% and a net margin of 5.80%. The company had revenue of $291.09 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $624.86 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. Carter's's quarterly revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Carter's, Inc. will post 5.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Carter's Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 3rd were paid a $0.25 dividend. This is a positive change from Carter's's previous dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 2nd. This represents a yield of 3.19%. Carter's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays assumed coverage on Carter's in a research report on Monday, April 28th. They issued an "underweight" rating and a $25.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Carter's from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, 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 report on Monday, April 28th. Three equities 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, the stock has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $36.80.

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.

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