Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Acquires 4,952 Shares of Carter’s, Inc. (NYSE:CRI)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its holdings in Carter’s, Inc. (NYSE:CRI) by 41.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 16,977 shares of the textile maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,952 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Carter’s were worth $1,271,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CRI. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC bought a new stake in Carter’s in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,588,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Carter’s by 59.3% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 632,671 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $47,381,000 after purchasing an additional 235,431 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Carter’s by 270.4% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 309,049 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $21,371,000 after purchasing an additional 225,614 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Carter’s by 35.5% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 420,537 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $29,080,000 after purchasing an additional 110,173 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Carter’s by 5.5% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,713,889 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $118,515,000 after purchasing an additional 90,094 shares during the period.

Carter’s Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:CRI opened at $71.57 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.29. Carter’s, Inc. has a 1 year low of $60.65 and a 1 year 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. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $79.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.74.

Carter’s (NYSE:CRI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The textile maker reported $2.76 earnings per share 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 return on equity of 28.79% and a net margin of 7.89%. The company’s revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.29 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Carter’s, Inc. will post 6.52 EPS 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. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.47%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. This is an increase from Carter’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Carter’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Carter’s

In other Carter’s news, Director Mark Hipp sold 1,875 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on CRI shares. Wedbush increased their target price on Carter’s from $67.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Citigroup lowered their target price 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. StockNews.com lowered Carter’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Carter’s from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Carter’s from $75.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Carter’s presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.80.

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.