M&T Bank Corp Raises Stock Position in Carter’s, Inc. (NYSE:CRI)

M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in shares of Carter’s, Inc. (NYSE:CRI) by 7.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,073 shares of the textile maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Carter’s were worth $221,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Carter’s by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,245,943 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $67,518,000 after purchasing an additional 74,133 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in shares of Carter’s by 114.4% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 506 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Carter’s by 8,394.7% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,614 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $87,000 after buying an additional 1,595 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP purchased a new stake in shares of Carter’s in the 4th quarter worth about $239,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Carter’s in the 4th quarter worth about $1,653,000.

Carter’s Stock Performance

Shares of CRI stock opened at $39.81 on Friday. Carter’s, Inc. has a one year low of $39.25 and a one year high of $86.24. The company’s 50-day moving average is $49.65 and its 200 day moving average is $56.28. The company has a market capitalization of $1.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 1.24. 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) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The textile maker reported $2.39 EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $835.82 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.76 EPS. Carter’s’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Carter’s, Inc. will post 5.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Carter’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Carter’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CRI. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of 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 reduced their target price on shares of Carter’s from $57.00 to $49.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Carter’s from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.00.

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.