Needham Investment Management LLC Sells 37,300 Shares of Carter's, Inc. $CRI

Key Points

• Needham Investment Management LLC has reduced its holdings in Carter's, Inc. by 23.8%, selling 37,300 shares, and now owns 119,500 shares valued at approximately $4.89 million.
• Carter's recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, representing a 3.5% yield, with the ex-dividend date on August 26th.
• Analysts have a generally negative outlook for Carter's, with ratings ranging from "Hold" to "Strong Sell," and a recent price target reduction from UBS Group from $32.00 to $26.00.

Needham Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Carter's, Inc. (NYSE:CRI - Free Report) by 23.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 119,500 shares of the textile maker's stock after selling 37,300 shares during the quarter. Needham Investment Management LLC owned 0.33% of Carter's worth $4,888,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CRI. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Carter's by 14,270.6% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,631,493 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $66,728,000 after purchasing an additional 1,620,140 shares during the period. RWWM Inc. raised its stake 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 valued at $89,591,000 after purchasing an additional 1,297,607 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 584,850 shares during the period. Interval Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Carter's in the 4th quarter valued at about $14,242,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Carter's by 829.9% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 260,048 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $14,092,000 after purchasing an additional 232,082 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on CRI shares. UBS Group dropped their price target on Carter's from $32.00 to $26.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Zacks Research downgraded Carter's from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. 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 report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Carter's from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Strong Sell" and an average target price of $30.25.

Carter's Stock Performance

NYSE CRI traded up $1.09 during trading on Thursday, reaching $29.67. 362,778 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,517,076. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $28.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.87 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 2.20 and a quick ratio of 1.03. Carter's, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $23.38 and a fifty-two week high of $71.99.

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

Carter's Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 26th. Carter's's payout ratio is currently 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.