Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Makes New $291,000 Investment in Karat Packaging Inc. (NASDAQ:KRT)

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Karat Packaging Inc. (NASDAQ:KRT) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 9,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $291,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in Karat Packaging by 21.7% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 34,666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,049,000 after buying an additional 6,178 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Karat Packaging by 15.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 178,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,626,000 after acquiring an additional 24,020 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Karat Packaging by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 71,153 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,843,000 after acquiring an additional 7,911 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Karat Packaging by 52.1% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 54,333 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,407,000 after acquiring an additional 18,612 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of Karat Packaging by 7.1% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 26,567 shares of the company’s stock worth $688,000 after purchasing an additional 1,760 shares during the last quarter. 25.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Karat Packaging Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KRT opened at $30.91 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 3.12 and a quick ratio of 1.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $618.94 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.08 and a beta of 1.08. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $30.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.21. Karat Packaging Inc. has a 12 month low of $23.10 and a 12 month high of $33.14.

Karat Packaging (NASDAQ:KRT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.47 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $112.77 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $113.58 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.47 EPS. Analysts expect that Karat Packaging Inc. will post 1.66 EPS for the current year.

Karat Packaging Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.18%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 20th. This is a positive change from Karat Packaging’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Karat Packaging’s payout ratio is currently 114.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KRT has been the topic of several recent research reports. William Blair lowered shares of Karat Packaging from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Karat Packaging from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th.

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.