Karat Packaging (NASDAQ:KRT) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Should You Buy?

Karat Packaging Inc. (NASDAQ:KRT) shares saw an uptick in trading volume on Wednesday . 26,402 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 8% from the previous session’s volume of 28,579 shares.The stock last traded at $31.59 and had previously closed at $31.69.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on KRT. William Blair cut shares of Karat Packaging from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Karat Packaging from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th.

Karat Packaging Price Performance

The company’s 50 day moving average is $30.42 and its 200 day moving average is $28.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $620.12 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.20 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.82, a current ratio of 3.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Karat Packaging (NASDAQ:KRT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.04). Karat Packaging had a net margin of 6.78% and a return on equity of 19.84%. The company had revenue of $112.77 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $113.58 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.47 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Karat Packaging Inc. will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Karat Packaging Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is an increase from Karat Packaging’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.17%. Karat Packaging’s payout ratio is presently 114.29%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of KRT. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Karat Packaging by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 121,473 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,592,000 after purchasing an additional 3,397 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in Karat Packaging by 8.8% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 33,515 shares of the company’s stock valued at $991,000 after acquiring an additional 2,700 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Karat Packaging by 37.8% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 116,980 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,460,000 after acquiring an additional 32,069 shares in the last quarter. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Karat Packaging in the 3rd quarter valued at about $401,000. Finally, Ellsworth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Karat Packaging by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 21,783 shares of the company’s stock valued at $564,000 after purchasing an additional 1,381 shares in the last quarter. 25.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.