Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Purchases 21,129 Shares of Carter's, Inc. (NYSE:CRI)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Carter's, Inc. (NYSE:CRI - Free Report) by 416.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 26,197 shares of the textile maker's stock after acquiring an additional 21,129 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC owned 0.07% of Carter's worth $1,420,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Carter's by 124.4% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,739,522 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $93,134,000 after acquiring an additional 964,494 shares during the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. raised its position in Carter's by 108.0% in the 4th quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 1,126,468 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $61,043,000 after buying an additional 584,850 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in 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 valued at $104,042,000 after buying an additional 479,961 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Carter's by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,895,549 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $211,100,000 after buying an additional 366,293 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RWWM Inc. grew its stake in Carter's by 61.5% in the fourth quarter. RWWM Inc. now owns 892,875 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $48,385,000 after purchasing an additional 339,879 shares in the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays assumed coverage on Carter's in a research note on Monday, April 28th. They issued an "underweight" rating and a $25.00 price target for the company. UBS Group decreased their price target on Carter's from $37.00 to $32.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Carter's from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have assigned a hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Carter's presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $36.80.

Carter's Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CRI traded down $0.33 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $32.27. 1,173,029 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,331,406. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 2.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Carter's, Inc. has a 12 month low of $29.62 and a 12 month high of $71.99. The company's 50 day moving average price is $34.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $44.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.18 billion, a PE ratio of 5.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 1.00.

Carter's (NYSE:CRI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The textile maker reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $624.86 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Carter's, Inc. will post 5.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Carter's Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 3rd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. This is an increase from Carter's's previous dividend of $0.22. This represents a yield of 3.19%. Carter's's payout ratio is 22.12%.

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.