Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Grows Holdings in Carter’s, Inc. (NYSE:CRI)

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in Carter’s, Inc. (NYSE:CRI) by 189.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 265,680 shares of the textile maker’s stock after buying an additional 173,855 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s holdings in Carter’s were worth $19,897,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LSV Asset Management increased its holdings in Carter’s by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,229,812 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $92,101,000 after buying an additional 39,976 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its holdings in Carter’s by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,135,092 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $85,007,000 after buying an additional 3,570 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Carter’s by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 933,576 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $69,916,000 after buying an additional 18,008 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Carter’s by 59.3% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 632,671 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $47,381,000 after buying an additional 235,431 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Reinhart Partners LLC. increased its stake in shares of Carter’s by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 626,380 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $46,910,000 after purchasing an additional 65,703 shares in the last quarter.

Carter’s Stock Performance

CRI opened at $63.55 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.32 billion, a PE ratio of 10.02, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.27. Carter’s, Inc. has a twelve month low of $62.28 and a twelve month high of $88.03. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $67.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $74.50. The company has a current ratio of 2.43, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Carter’s (NYSE:CRI) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The textile maker reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $661.49 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $633.05 million. Carter’s had a net margin of 8.06% and a return on equity of 28.55%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Carter’s, Inc. will post 6.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Carter’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th were issued a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 24th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.04%. Carter’s’s payout ratio is 50.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRI has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Carter’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Carter’s from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Carter’s from $66.00 to $64.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price 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, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Carter’s from $76.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $73.80.

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.