Karat Packaging (NASDAQ:KRT) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Karat Packaging (NASDAQ:KRT) was downgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Karat Packaging in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Bank of America set a $24.00 price target on shares of Karat Packaging and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Karat Packaging from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Lake Street Capital reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $39.00 price target on shares of Karat Packaging in a research note on Friday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.50.

Karat Packaging Stock Performance

Karat Packaging stock opened at $27.23 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $25.06. Karat Packaging has a 1-year low of $20.61 and a 1-year high of $32.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 2.29 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market cap of $543.51 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.93.

Karat Packaging (NASDAQ:KRT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.02. Karat Packaging had a net margin of 6.61% and a return on equity of 19.87%. The business had revenue of $116.95 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $112.98 million. On average, analysts expect that Karat Packaging will post 1.98 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Karat Packaging

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Karat Packaging by 8.6% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 218,437 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,098,000 after buying an additional 17,326 shares in the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. lifted its holdings in Karat Packaging by 40.3% during the 1st quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 151,181 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,221,000 after buying an additional 43,451 shares in the last quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. lifted its holdings in Karat Packaging by 59.0% during the 1st quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 97,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,708,000 after buying an additional 36,000 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in Karat Packaging during the 4th quarter worth approximately $711,000. Finally, Polymer Capital Management US LLC lifted its holdings in Karat Packaging by 15.3% during the 4th quarter. Polymer Capital Management US LLC now owns 14,421 shares of the company’s stock worth $325,000 after buying an additional 1,918 shares in the last quarter. 25.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Karat Packaging Company Profile

Karat Packaging Technologies, Inc (NASDAQ: KRT) is a U.S.-based provider of premium packaging solutions for consumer goods and industrial products. The company specializes in the design, manufacture and delivery of high-quality litho-laminated folding cartons, tubes and flexible packaging. Karat Packaging operates an integrated production model that combines prepress, printing, converting and finishing capabilities to support the branding and shelf-appeal needs of its customers.

The company serves a diverse range of end markets, including food and beverage, confectionery, health and beauty, pharmaceuticals, specialty chemicals and promotional packaging.