Meeder Asset Management Inc. Acquires New Shares in Carter’s, Inc. (NYSE:CRI)

Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Carter’s, Inc. (NYSE:CRI) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 5,824 shares of the textile maker’s stock, valued at approximately $316,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Carter’s by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,895,549 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $211,100,000 after buying an additional 366,293 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Carter’s by 155.0% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,851,079 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $154,500,000 after acquiring an additional 1,732,857 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Carter’s by 4.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,545,436 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $100,422,000 after purchasing an additional 60,089 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Carter’s by 6.3% during the fourth 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. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Carter’s by 15.4% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,067,176 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $57,830,000 after purchasing an additional 142,514 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group lowered their price target on Carter’s from $57.00 to $49.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Carter’s from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.00.

Carter’s Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of CRI stock opened at $40.91 on Tuesday. Carter’s, Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.84 and a 1 year high of $86.24. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $47.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $54.15. The company has a market cap of $1.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.49, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 2.21 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

Carter’s (NYSE:CRI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The textile maker reported $2.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.52. Carter’s had a return on equity of 27.15% and a net margin of 8.11%. The business had revenue of $859.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $835.82 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.76 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Carter’s, Inc. will post 5.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Carter’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.82%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Carter’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.62%.

Carter’s Profile

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.