Carter's, Inc. (NYSE:CRI) Short Interest Update

Carter's, Inc. (NYSE:CRI - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,020,000 shares, a growth of 9.2% from the March 31st total of 3,680,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 808,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.0 days. Approximately 11.4% of the company's shares are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered Carter's from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Citigroup cut their price target on Carter's from $66.00 to $64.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Carter's from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. StockNews.com downgraded Carter's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Wedbush lifted their price target on Carter's from $67.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $73.80.

Carter's Stock Performance

CRI stock traded down $2.04 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $68.40. 815,570 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 795,570. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $79.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $74.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 2.43. Carter's has a 52 week low of $60.65 and a 52 week high of $88.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.51 billion, a PE ratio of 10.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.29.

Carter's (NYSE:CRI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The textile maker reported $2.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.24. Carter's had a net margin of 8.06% and a return on equity of 28.55%. The business had revenue of $858.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $867.81 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.29 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Carter's will post 6.3 EPS for the current year.

Carter's Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were paid a $0.80 dividend. This is an increase from Carter's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.68%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. Carter's's dividend payout ratio is presently 50.47%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mark Hipp sold 1,875 shares of Carter's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.74, for a total value of $153,262.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,216 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $835,055.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Carter's

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CRI. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new position in shares of Carter's during the third quarter valued at approximately $259,000. Xponance Inc. boosted its holdings in Carter's by 7.7% in the third quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 4,930 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $341,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in Carter's by 0.6% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 52,858 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $3,655,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Carter's by 5.5% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,713,889 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $118,515,000 after purchasing an additional 90,094 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Reinhart Partners LLC. boosted its holdings in Carter's by 4.7% in the third quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 560,677 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $38,771,000 after purchasing an additional 25,345 shares during the last quarter.

Carter's Company Profile

Carter's, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, designs, sources, and markets branded childrenswear under the Carter's, OshKosh, Skip Hop, Child of Mine, Just One You, Simple Joys, Little Planet, and other brands in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: U.S.