Wasatch Advisors LP Reduces Stake in Karat Packaging Inc. (NASDAQ:KRT)

Wasatch Advisors LP reduced its stake in Karat Packaging Inc. (NASDAQ:KRT) by 5.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 325,203 shares of the company’s stock after selling 18,844 shares during the quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP owned approximately 1.63% of Karat Packaging worth $9,304,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KRT. Corient Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Karat Packaging in the 4th quarter valued at $1,677,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Karat Packaging by 93.1% during the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 98,258 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,442,000 after purchasing an additional 47,377 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Karat Packaging during the 3rd quarter worth $641,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Karat Packaging during the 3rd quarter worth $627,000. Finally, Denali Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Karat Packaging by 167.8% during the 4th quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 31,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $785,000 after purchasing an additional 19,800 shares during the period. 25.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Karat Packaging Trading Down 1.1 %

NASDAQ KRT traded down $0.32 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $28.00. The stock had a trading volume of 46,646 shares, compared to its average volume of 45,693. The company has a market capitalization of $559.44 million, a PE ratio of 18.92 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 3.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $28.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.05. Karat Packaging Inc. has a twelve month low of $16.90 and a twelve month high of $30.94.

Karat Packaging (NASDAQ:KRT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $95.61 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.76 million. Karat Packaging had a net margin of 7.31% and a return on equity of 21.94%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Karat Packaging Inc. will post 1.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Karat Packaging Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th were given a $0.35 dividend. This is an increase from Karat Packaging’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 16th. Karat Packaging’s payout ratio is currently 94.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial increased their price target on Karat Packaging from $24.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $32.00 price target (up from $30.00) on shares of Karat Packaging in a report on Friday, March 15th.

About Karat Packaging

Karat Packaging Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and distribution of single-use disposable products in plastic, paper, biopolymer-based, and other compostable forms used in various restaurant and foodservice settings. It provides food and take-out containers, bags, tableware, cups, lids, cutlery, straws, specialty beverage ingredients, equipment, gloves, and other products under the Karat Earth brand.