Nuveen LLC Purchases New Position in Carter's, Inc. $CRI

Key Points

• Nuveen LLC has acquired a new stake in Carter's, Inc. valued at approximately $2.46 million, purchasing 60,028 shares during the first quarter.
• Several analysts have downgraded Carter's stock recently, with UBS lowering their target price from $32.00 to $26.00 and Zacks Research changing their rating from "hold" to "strong sell."
• Carter's reported a quarterly earnings miss with an EPS of $0.17, falling short of expectations by $0.26, though revenue increased by 3.7% year-over-year.

Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Carter's, Inc. (NYSE:CRI - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 60,028 shares of the textile maker's stock, valued at approximately $2,455,000. Nuveen LLC owned approximately 0.16% of Carter's at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. RWWM Inc. increased its holdings in Carter's by 145.3% during the first quarter. RWWM Inc. now owns 2,190,482 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $89,591,000 after buying an additional 1,297,607 shares during the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Carter's by 108.0% during the 4th quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 1,126,468 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $61,043,000 after acquiring an additional 584,850 shares during the period. Interval Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Carter's during the 4th quarter worth approximately $14,242,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in shares of Carter's by 829.9% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 260,048 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $14,092,000 after acquiring an additional 232,082 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CenterBook Partners LP bought a new stake in Carter's in the 1st quarter valued at $7,187,000.

Carter's Trading Down 1.4%

Carter's stock traded down $0.41 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $28.61. The stock had a trading volume of 628,404 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,533,857. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.18. Carter's, Inc. has a 52 week low of $23.38 and a 52 week high of $71.99. The stock has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a PE ratio of 7.59 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 (NYSE:CRI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The textile maker reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.26). The firm had revenue of $585.31 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $563.24 million. Carter's had a net margin of 4.79% and a return on equity of 20.68%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.76 EPS. Analysts forecast that Carter's, Inc. will post 5.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Carter's Cuts Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CRI shares. Barclays dropped their target price on Carter's from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Carter's from $32.00 to $26.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company 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 note on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Carter's from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Strong Sell" and a consensus price target of $30.25.

Carter's 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.