Stevens Capital Management LP Takes $204,000 Position in Carter’s, Inc. (NYSE:CRI)

Stevens Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Carter’s, Inc. (NYSE:CRI) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 2,726 shares of the textile maker’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRI. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Carter’s by 28.6% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 630 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP acquired a new stake in Carter’s in the third quarter worth about $234,000. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC bought a new position in shares of Carter’s in the third quarter valued at approximately $236,000. Truvestments Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Carter’s by 24.3% during the 3rd quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 3,594 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $249,000 after purchasing an additional 703 shares during the period. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC bought a new stake in Carter’s in the third quarter worth about $259,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded shares of Carter’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. StockNews.com cut Carter’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. UBS Group upped their target price on Carter’s from $76.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Carter’s from $66.00 to $64.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Carter’s from $75.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Mark Hipp sold 1,875 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.74, for a total transaction of $153,262.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,216 shares in the company, valued at approximately $835,055.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Carter’s Stock Down 2.2 %

Carter’s stock traded down $1.55 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $70.01. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,722,308 shares, compared to its average volume of 790,624. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $60.65 and a 52-week high of $88.03. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $79.96 and its 200 day moving average is $74.74. The company has a market cap of $2.57 billion, a PE ratio of 11.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.29.

Carter’s (NYSE:CRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The textile maker reported $2.76 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $858.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $867.81 million. Carter’s had a net margin of 7.89% and a return on equity of 28.79%. The firm’s revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.29 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Carter’s, Inc. will post 6.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Carter’s Increases Dividend

The company 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 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 4.57%. Carter’s’s payout ratio is presently 51.04%.

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.