Carter's, Inc. (NYSE:CRI) Shares Sold by Heartland Advisors Inc.

Heartland Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in Carter's, Inc. (NYSE:CRI - Free Report) by 10.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 300,542 shares of the textile maker's stock after selling 36,360 shares during the period. Carter's accounts for about 1.3% of Heartland Advisors Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Heartland Advisors Inc. owned about 0.82% of Carter's worth $23,982,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CRI. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Carter's by 28.6% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 630 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Carter's during the fourth quarter valued at $204,000. Seven Eight Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Carter's during the third quarter worth $234,000. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC bought a new position in shares of Carter's in the 3rd quarter worth about $236,000. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC acquired a new position in Carter's in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $246,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on CRI shares. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Carter's from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. StockNews.com lowered Carter's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Citigroup cut their target price on Carter's from $66.00 to $64.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Carter's from $75.00 to $68.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Carter's from $76.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Carter's currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $73.80.

Carter's Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRI traded down $0.96 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $70.18. The stock had a trading volume of 458,055 shares, compared to its average volume of 783,066. Carter's, Inc. has a 52 week low of $60.65 and a 52 week high of $88.03. The business's 50-day moving average price is $76.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $75.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 2.43 and a quick ratio of 1.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.56 billion, a PE ratio of 11.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 1.32.

Carter's (NYSE:CRI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The textile maker reported $2.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.24. Carter's had a net margin of 8.06% and a return on equity of 28.55%. The firm had revenue of $858.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $867.81 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.29 EPS. Carter's's revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Carter's, Inc. will post 6.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Carter's Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 11th were given a dividend of $0.80 per share. This is a boost from Carter's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.56%. Carter's's payout ratio is presently 50.47%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mark Hipp sold 1,875 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were 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 owns 10,216 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $835,055.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 3.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Carter's 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.

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