Carter's, Inc. $CRI Shares Sold by Vanguard Group Inc.

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its stake in Carter's, Inc. by 1.9%, resulting in ownership of approximately 10.49% of the company's total shares.
• Carter's reported a net margin of 4.79%, but its quarterly earnings fell short of estimates, with an EPS of $0.17, missing the expected $0.43.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, translating to an annual yield of 3.9%.

Vanguard Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Carter's, Inc. (NYSE:CRI - Free Report) by 1.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,822,670 shares of the textile maker's stock after selling 72,879 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 10.49% of Carter's worth $156,347,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Carter's by 38.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,004 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 554 shares during the last quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Carter's during the first quarter valued at approximately $780,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Carter's by 12.2% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 29,790 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $1,205,000 after buying an additional 3,243 shares during the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Carter's during the first quarter valued at $1,199,000. Finally, Royce & Associates LP purchased a new stake in shares of Carter's in the first quarter valued at $588,000.

Carter's Stock Up 1.7%

Carter's stock traded up $0.4370 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $26.7270. The company had a trading volume of 527,941 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,533,367. The stock has a market cap of $973.72 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.10 and a beta of 0.99. Carter's, Inc. has a 1 year low of $23.38 and a 1 year high of $71.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The business has a fifty day moving average of $28.86 and a 200 day moving average of $35.23.

Carter's (NYSE:CRI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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). The company 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 business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.76 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Carter's, Inc. will post 5.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Carter's Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. Carter's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Carter's from $32.00 to $26.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. Barclays reduced 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, July 29th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Carter's from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Strong Sell" and an average price target of $30.25.

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.