Royce & Associates LP Takes Position in Carter's, Inc. (NYSE:CRI)

Key Points

• Royce & Associates LP has acquired a new stake in Carter's, Inc., purchasing 14,381 shares valued at approximately **$588,000**.
• Carter's, Inc. reported a quarterly EPS of **$0.17**, missing analysts' estimates of **$0.43**, despite a **3.7%** year-over-year revenue increase.
• The company recently increased its **dividend** to **$0.25** per share, indicating a positive management outlook with a dividend yield of **3.19%**.

Royce & Associates LP purchased a new stake in shares of Carter's, Inc. (NYSE:CRI - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 14,381 shares of the textile maker's stock, valued at approximately $588,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in CRI. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Carter's during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,609,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in shares of Carter's during the 4th quarter valued at about $677,000. LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Carter's by 30.0% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 5,139 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $278,000 after buying an additional 1,187 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Carter's by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,895,549 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $211,100,000 after purchasing an additional 366,293 shares during the period. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. raised its stake in Carter's by 199.0% during the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 35,888 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $1,896,000 after purchasing an additional 23,885 shares during the period.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group decreased their target price 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. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Carter's from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Carter's from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th.

Carter's Price Performance

NYSE CRI traded down $0.62 during trading on Friday, hitting $23.62. 1,636,538 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,772,386. The company has a market capitalization of $860.48 million, a P/E ratio of 6.27 and a beta of 0.99. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Carter's, Inc. has a 12-month low of $23.38 and a 12-month high of $71.99.

Carter's (NYSE:CRI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The textile maker reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.26). The firm had revenue of $585.31 million for 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 business's quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.76 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Carter's, Inc. will post 5.15 EPS for the current year.

Carter's Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 3rd were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 319.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. This is a positive change from Carter's's previous dividend of $0.22. Carter's's dividend payout ratio is 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.