Carter Bankshares (NASDAQ:CARE) Reaches New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Carter Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CARE)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $25.01 and last traded at $25.2050, with a volume of 2085 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $24.62.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CARE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Hovde Group boosted their price objective on Carter Bankshares from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Carter Bankshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 31st. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Carter Bankshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $27.00 price objective on shares of Carter Bankshares in a report on Monday. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Carter Bankshares from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $27.50.

Carter Bankshares Trading Up 0.7%

The stock has a market capitalization of $549.35 million, a P/E ratio of 5.09 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $22.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.34.

Carter Bankshares (NASDAQ:CARE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $106.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $42.47 million. Carter Bankshares had a return on equity of 7.93% and a net margin of 33.60%. On average, analysts expect that Carter Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Carter Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 11th.

Institutional Trading of Carter Bankshares

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CARE. Fourthstone LLC increased its stake in Carter Bankshares by 19.1% in the fourth quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 1,236,393 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,307,000 after acquiring an additional 197,850 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Carter Bankshares by 2.2% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,130,055 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,934,000 after purchasing an additional 24,621 shares during the last quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Carter Bankshares by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 441,076 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,561,000 after purchasing an additional 50,519 shares in the last quarter. Maltese Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Carter Bankshares by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Maltese Capital Management LLC now owns 395,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,781,000 after purchasing an additional 26,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Carter Bankshares by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 300,553 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,909,000 after purchasing an additional 29,924 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.48% of the company’s stock.

Carter Bankshares Company Profile

Carter Bankshares, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Suffolk, Virginia, operating primarily through its subsidiary, Carter Bank & Trust. The company offers a full range of commercial and retail banking services, serving individuals, small and mid-sized businesses, and nonprofit organizations. Its financial products are designed to meet the needs of local customers across southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina.

Carter Bank & Trust provides deposit accounts, including checking, savings and money market products, as well as certificates of deposit.