Karat Packaging (NASDAQ:KRT) Downgraded to “Strong Sell” Rating by Zacks Research

Zacks Research cut shares of Karat Packaging (NASDAQ:KRT) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research report released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Bank of America raised Karat Packaging from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $31.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Karat Packaging from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Karat Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Karat Packaging presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.67.

Karat Packaging Price Performance

KRT opened at $21.91 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $440.39 million, a PE ratio of 14.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 2.14 and a quick ratio of 1.40. The business’s 50-day moving average is $24.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.73. Karat Packaging has a 1 year low of $21.25 and a 1 year high of $33.89.

Karat Packaging (NASDAQ:KRT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37. The business had revenue of $124.52 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $124.09 million. Karat Packaging had a net margin of 6.67% and a return on equity of 18.98%. Karat Packaging has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Karat Packaging will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Karat Packaging Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 28th. Investors of record on Friday, November 21st will be given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 21st. Karat Packaging’s dividend payout ratio is presently 120.00%.

Institutional Trading of Karat Packaging

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KRT. Ranger Investment Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Karat Packaging by 105.7% in the second quarter. Ranger Investment Management L.P. now owns 320,556 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,027,000 after purchasing an additional 164,716 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in Karat Packaging in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,312,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in Karat Packaging by 92.2% during the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 171,119 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,819,000 after buying an additional 82,091 shares during the last quarter. De Lisle Partners LLP raised its position in Karat Packaging by 53.6% during the 2nd quarter. De Lisle Partners LLP now owns 229,143 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,444,000 after buying an additional 80,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HBK Investments L P acquired a new stake in Karat Packaging during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,971,000. Hedge funds and other 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.