Wasatch Advisors LP Sells 630,748 Shares of Carter's, Inc. (NYSE:CRI)

Wasatch Advisors LP lowered its stake in Carter's, Inc. (NYSE:CRI - Free Report) by 98.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,378 shares of the textile maker's stock after selling 630,748 shares during the quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP's holdings in Carter's were worth $400,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CRI. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Carter's by 99.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,681 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $304,000 after purchasing an additional 2,339 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its stake in Carter's by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 17,652 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $1,147,000 after buying an additional 396 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Carter's by 58.7% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 20,077 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $1,304,000 after buying an additional 7,429 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Carter's in the 3rd quarter valued at about $692,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Carter's by 109.8% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 38,617 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $2,468,000 after acquiring an additional 20,210 shares during the last quarter.

Carter's Stock Performance

CRI traded up $0.03 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $36.94. The company's stock had a trading volume of 376,422 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,209,231. The company's 50-day moving average is $41.27 and its 200-day moving average is $50.53. Carter's, Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.12 and a 52 week high of $74.40. The firm has a market cap of $1.33 billion, a PE ratio of 5.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 2.21.

Carter's (NYSE:CRI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The textile maker reported $2.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.52. Carter's had a net margin of 8.11% and a return on equity of 27.15%. The company had revenue of $859.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $835.82 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.76 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Carter's, Inc. will post 5.15 EPS for the current year.

Carter's Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.66%. Carter's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on CRI. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Carter's from $65.00 to $48.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Carter's from $57.00 to $49.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Carter's from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th.

About Carter's

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.