Carter’s, Inc. (NYSE:CRI) Short Interest Up 9.7% in December

Carter’s, Inc. (NYSE:CRI) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,060,000 shares, a growth of 9.7% from the November 30th total of 3,700,000 shares. Currently, 11.6% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,290,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.1 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on CRI shares. 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. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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, October 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Carter’s presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.67.

Institutional Trading of Carter’s

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. RWWM Inc. bought a new position in Carter’s during the 2nd quarter valued at about $23,675,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Carter’s by 44.4% during the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Carter’s by 50.7% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 555,568 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $34,212,000 after purchasing an additional 186,894 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted 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 purchasing an additional 170,960 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new position in shares of Carter’s in the second quarter worth about $9,760,000.

Carter’s Stock Performance

NYSE CRI opened at $54.19 on Thursday. 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 has a market capitalization of $1.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.60, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 1.23. The company’s fifty day moving average is $54.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $60.89. Carter’s has a 52-week low of $50.27 and a 52-week high of $88.03.

Carter’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 25th were given a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 25th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.91%. Carter’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.79%.

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.