Karat Packaging Inc. (NASDAQ:KRT) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Karat Packaging Inc. (NASDAQ:KRT) was the target of a large decline in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 72,600 shares, a decline of 21.8% from the August 31st total of 92,800 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 48,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.5 days. Approximately 1.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Truist Financial lowered Karat Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $34.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Friday, August 9th.

Karat Packaging Price Performance

KRT stock traded down $0.17 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $25.83. 15,774 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 45,718. The stock has a market capitalization of $515.95 million, a PE ratio of 17.45 and a beta of 1.03. Karat Packaging has a 52 week low of $17.23 and a 52 week high of $30.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 3.05 and a quick ratio of 1.62. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $26.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.54.

Karat Packaging (NASDAQ:KRT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.11). Karat Packaging had a return on equity of 19.79% and a net margin of 6.90%. The firm had revenue of $112.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $114.03 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.68 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Karat Packaging will post 1.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Karat Packaging Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.42%. Karat Packaging’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 94.59%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Karat Packaging

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Karat Packaging by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 348,678 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,976,000 after buying an additional 2,804 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Karat Packaging by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 283,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,375,000 after purchasing an additional 21,383 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Karat Packaging by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 170,310 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,038,000 after purchasing an additional 4,408 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Karat Packaging by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 121,473 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,592,000 after purchasing an additional 3,397 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Karat Packaging by 37.8% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 116,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,460,000 after purchasing an additional 32,069 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 25.20% of the company’s stock.

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.