Short Interest in Carter’s, Inc. (NYSE:CRI) Rises By 15.0%

Carter’s, Inc. (NYSE:CRI) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,670,000 shares, an increase of 15.0% from the December 31st total of 4,060,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,290,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.6 days. Approximately 13.4% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of CRI. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Carter’s by 112.0% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 405 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Carter’s in the third quarter worth $28,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Carter’s by 221.2% during the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 726 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in Carter’s in the 3rd quarter valued at $74,000. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Carter’s by 136.7% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,780 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $96,000 after buying an additional 1,028 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on CRI. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Carter’s from $72.00 to $65.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Carter’s from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $50.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $67.67.

Carter’s Stock Down 1.7 %

CRI stock opened at $53.90 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 2.21 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The company has a 50-day moving average of $54.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $59.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 1.22. Carter’s has a 52-week low of $50.25 and a 52-week high of $88.03.

Carter’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 25th were issued a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.94%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 25th. Carter’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.79%.

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.