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

Carter’s, Inc. (NYSE:CRI) saw a significant increase in short interest in 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 trading volume, of 1,290,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.6 days. Approximately 13.4% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Carter’s Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE CRI opened at $53.90 on Monday. Carter’s has a one year low of $50.25 and a one year high of $88.03. 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 firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $54.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $59.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.56, a PEG ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 1.22.

Carter’s Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in Carter’s in the third quarter worth $683,000. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Carter’s by 79.3% in the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 152,560 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $9,913,000 after acquiring an additional 67,460 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Carter’s by 48.6% in the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 81,435 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $5,292,000 after acquiring an additional 26,650 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Carter’s by 3.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,171,810 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $76,144,000 after acquiring an additional 42,589 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Carter’s by 10.4% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 122,231 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $7,943,000 after acquiring an additional 11,480 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on CRI shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of 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 raised shares of Carter’s from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $50.00 price objective 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.67.

Carter’s Company 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.