Carter's, Inc. $CRI Holdings Boosted by Invesco Ltd.

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Carter's, Inc. by 33.5% in Q1, owning 171,628 shares worth approximately $7 million.
• Several institutional investors have significantly boosted their stakes in Carter's, with RWWM Inc. increasing its position by 145.3% to over 2.19 million shares.
• Carter's reported a disappointing $0.17 EPS for the last quarter, falling short of expectations, while revenue rose by 3.7% year-over-year.

Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Carter's, Inc. (NYSE:CRI - Free Report) by 33.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 171,628 shares of the textile maker's stock after purchasing an additional 43,074 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned about 0.47% of Carter's worth $7,020,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in shares of Carter's by 18.6% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,575 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $106,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Carter's during the first quarter worth about $1,147,000. CenterBook Partners LP acquired a new position in Carter's in the first quarter valued at approximately $7,187,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Carter's in the first quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in Carter's by 57.4% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 11,369 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $465,000 after acquiring an additional 4,147 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on CRI shares. Barclays decreased their target price on Carter's from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Carter's from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Carter's from $32.00 to $26.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Carter's from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Carter's has an average rating of "Strong Sell" and a consensus price target of $30.25.

Carter's Price Performance

NYSE:CRI traded up $0.32 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $28.62. 1,307,311 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,351,999. Carter's, Inc. has a one year low of $23.38 and a one year high of $71.99. The company has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.59 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $28.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $34.63. The company has a current ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Carter's (NYSE:CRI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The textile maker reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.26). Carter's had a return on equity of 20.68% and a net margin of 4.79%.The firm had revenue of $585.31 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $563.24 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.76 EPS. Carter's's revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Carter's, Inc. will post 5.15 EPS for the current year.

Carter's Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 26th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. Carter's's payout ratio is presently 26.53%.

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.