Brokerages Set Carter’s, Inc. (NYSE:CRI) Price Target at $75.75

Carter’s, Inc. (NYSE:CRI) has earned an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the five research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and four have issued a hold recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $75.25.

CRI has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. TheStreet raised Carter’s from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. StockNews.com lowered Carter’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut Carter’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Wedbush increased their target price on Carter’s from $67.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Carter’s from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Mark Hipp sold 1,875 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.74, for a total value of $153,262.50. Following the sale, 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 SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRI. Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in Carter’s by 29.7% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 27,235 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $2,505,000 after purchasing an additional 6,241 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in Carter’s by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 4,787 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $440,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Carter’s during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $601,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Carter’s by 33.4% during the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 27,317 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $2,513,000 after acquiring an additional 6,834 shares during the period. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its position in Carter’s by 10.5% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 15,490 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $1,425,000 after acquiring an additional 1,477 shares during the period.

Carter’s Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of CRI opened at $71.41 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $80.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $74.53. The stock has a market cap of $2.62 billion, a PE ratio of 11.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.29. Carter’s has a 12 month low of $60.65 and a 12 month high of $88.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

Carter’s (NYSE:CRI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The textile maker reported $2.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.24. Carter’s had a return on equity of 28.79% and a net margin of 7.89%. The business had revenue of $858.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $867.81 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.29 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Carter’s will post 6.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.48%. This is a boost from Carter’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Carter’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.04%.

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.