Karat Packaging Inc. (NASDAQ:KRT) CEO Alan Yu Sells 750,000 Shares

Karat Packaging Inc. (NASDAQ:KRT) CEO Alan Yu sold 750,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.00, for a total transaction of $20,250,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,203,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $167,502,735. This trade represents a 10.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Karat Packaging Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of KRT opened at $26.44 on Friday. Karat Packaging Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $23.00 and a fifty-two week high of $33.89. The company has a market capitalization of $530.39 million, a PE ratio of 18.89 and a beta of 1.19. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $28.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $29.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a current ratio of 3.12.

Karat Packaging (NASDAQ:KRT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.14). Karat Packaging had a net margin of 6.78% and a return on equity of 19.84%. The business had revenue of $101.65 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $102.27 million. As a group, analysts forecast that Karat Packaging Inc. will post 1.66 EPS for the current year.

Karat Packaging Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th were paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.81%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. Karat Packaging’s payout ratio is 120.00%.

Institutional Trading of Karat Packaging

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Karat Packaging by 9.0% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 245,734 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,529,000 after buying an additional 20,262 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Karat Packaging by 13.2% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 212,340 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,644,000 after buying an additional 24,791 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Karat Packaging by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 182,271 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,517,000 after buying an additional 3,626 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Karat Packaging by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 145,946 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,416,000 after buying an additional 12,676 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in Karat Packaging by 11.8% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 89,028 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,366,000 after buying an additional 9,383 shares during the last quarter. 25.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Karat Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Karat Packaging from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th.

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.