Verition Fund Management LLC Makes New Investment in Carter’s, Inc. (NYSE:CRI)

Verition Fund Management LLC bought a new position in Carter’s, Inc. (NYSE:CRI – Get Rating) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 3,178 shares of the textile maker’s stock, valued at approximately $208,000.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in shares of Carter’s by 29.7% during the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 27,235 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $2,505,000 after purchasing an additional 6,241 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its position in Carter’s by 6.2% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 4,787 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $440,000 after buying an additional 280 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Carter’s during the first quarter valued at approximately $601,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its position in Carter’s by 33.4% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 27,317 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $2,513,000 after buying an additional 6,834 shares during the period. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its position in Carter’s by 10.5% during the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 15,490 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $1,425,000 after buying an additional 1,477 shares during the period. 99.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Carter’s Price Performance

CRI stock opened at $70.02 on Friday. Carter’s, Inc. has a one year low of $62.65 and a one year high of $97.68. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $78.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 2.25. The company has a market capitalization of $2.64 billion, a PE ratio of 10.99 and a beta of 1.25.

Carter’s (NYSE:CRI – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 24th. The textile maker reported $2.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.55. The company had revenue of $912.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $897.27 million. Carter’s had a net margin of 7.78% and a return on equity of 45.25%. Carter’s’s revenue was down 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.31 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Carter’s, Inc. will post 5.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Carter’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 7th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.28%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 6th. Carter’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.10%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wedbush lowered shares of Carter’s from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $78.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, January 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $82.25.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Michael Dennis Casey sold 25,380 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.01, for a total value of $1,903,753.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 380,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,515,951.62. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Carter’s Company Profile

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Carter’s, Inc engages in the marketing of apparel for babies and young children. It operates through the following segments: U.S. Retail, U.S. Wholesale, and International. The U.S. retail segment consists of sales of products in retail and online stores. The U.S. Wholesale segment includes sales in the United States of products to wholesale partners.