Short Interest in Carter's, Inc. (NYSE:CRI) Drops By 14.7%

Key Points

• Short interest in Carter's fell 14.7% in March to 3,264,675 shares, equal to 9.0% of the float and a days-to-cover of 3.2.
• Carter's beat quarterly estimates with $1.90 EPS vs. $1.70 expected and $925.45M revenue (up 7.7% YoY), and set Q1 guidance of $0.02–$0.08 while the consensus analyst rating is Hold with an average price target of $37.33.
• Shares recently traded at $38.51 (market cap ~$1.42B) and the company pays a $0.25 quarterly dividend, implying an annual yield of about 2.6%.

Carter's, Inc. (NYSE:CRI - Get Free Report) saw a large decline in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 3,264,675 shares, a decline of 14.7% from the March 15th total of 3,826,546 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,027,489 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.2 days. Currently, 9.0% of the company's stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on CRI shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Carter's from $33.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded Carter's from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $45.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Needham & Company LLC started coverage on Carter's in a report on Thursday, March 26th. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Carter's from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $38.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Carter's from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Thursday, March 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $37.33.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in Carter's by 66.5% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 19,349 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $627,000 after purchasing an additional 7,728 shares during the period. Kera Capital Partners Inc. acquired a new position in Carter's during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $298,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Carter's by 23.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 268,789 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $8,717,000 after purchasing an additional 50,243 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its position in Carter's by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 30,279 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $982,000 after purchasing an additional 629 shares during the period. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in Carter's during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $331,000.

Carter's Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CRI traded up $1.56 during trading on Friday, reaching $38.51. The stock had a trading volume of 1,808,740 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,264,640. Carter's has a one year low of $23.38 and a one year high of $44.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 2.51. The stock has a market cap of $1.42 billion, a PE ratio of 15.28, a P/E/G ratio of 5.39 and a beta of 0.98. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $36.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.86.

Carter's (NYSE:CRI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 27th. The textile maker reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.20. Carter's had a return on equity of 14.45% and a net margin of 3.17%.The business had revenue of $925.45 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $912.36 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.39 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. Carter's has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.020-0.080 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Carter's will post 5.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Carter's Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. Carter's's payout ratio is currently 39.68%.

About Carter's

Carter's, Inc NYSE: CRI is a leading designer and marketer of infant and young children's apparel in North America. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, the company's core business focuses on creating clothing and accessories for babies and children, including bodysuits, sleepwear, layette, outerwear and accessories that blend comfort, safety and style. Carter's flagship brand is complemented by its OshKosh B'gosh line, which offers heritage-inspired designs and durable fabrics for toddlers and young kids.

The company distributes its products through a diversified platform that includes wholesale partnerships with major department stores and mass merchandisers, direct‐to‐consumer e-commerce sites, and an extensive network of company-operated retail stores.

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