Carter’s, Inc. (NYSE:CRI) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Carter’s, Inc. (NYSE:CRI) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,060,000 shares, a decline of 9.2% from the September 30th total of 5,570,000 shares. Approximately 14.4% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,180,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.3 days.

Carter’s Price Performance

CRI traded down $0.21 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $55.60. 1,024,525 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 950,346. The company has a market cap of $2.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.77, a PEG ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 2.09. Carter’s has a 12-month low of $54.74 and a 12-month high of $88.03. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $65.41.

Carter’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 27th were paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.76%. Carter’s’s payout ratio is 50.47%.

Institutional Trading of Carter’s

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Carter’s by 44.4% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,209,097 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $74,928,000 after purchasing an additional 371,681 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Carter’s by 11.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,062,890 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $65,868,000 after buying an additional 112,947 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Carter’s by 29.2% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 757,116 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $46,918,000 after buying an additional 170,960 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Carter’s by 50.7% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 555,568 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $34,212,000 after acquiring an additional 186,894 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Reinhart Partners LLC. raised its holdings in shares of Carter’s by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 523,939 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $34,046,000 after acquiring an additional 62,749 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Carter’s from $72.00 to $65.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Carter’s from $65.00 to $54.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.00.

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.