Karat Packaging (NASDAQ:KRT) Shares Down 6.1% – Should You Sell?

Karat Packaging Inc. (NASDAQ:KRT) shares traded down 6.1% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $32.41 and last traded at $31.43. 20,153 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 35% from the average session volume of 31,093 shares. The stock had previously closed at $33.46.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KRT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased 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. William Blair lowered Karat Packaging from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd.

Karat Packaging Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.40. The company has a market capitalization of $620.42 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.14 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 3.12, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Karat Packaging Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. This is an increase from Karat Packaging’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 24th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.81%. Karat Packaging’s dividend payout ratio is presently 114.29%.

Institutional Trading of Karat Packaging

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Karat Packaging by 108.5% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 84,038 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,543,000 after buying an additional 43,740 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Karat Packaging by 32.7% during the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 35,847 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,084,000 after purchasing an additional 8,837 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in Karat Packaging by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 58,461 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,769,000 after purchasing an additional 4,128 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in Karat Packaging by 16.7% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 31,005 shares of the company’s stock worth $938,000 after purchasing an additional 4,438 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in Karat Packaging by 773.6% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,590 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 1,408 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 25.20% of the company’s stock.

Karat Packaging Company Profile

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.