Strs Ohio Purchases Shares of 9,800 Karat Packaging Inc. $KRT

Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in Karat Packaging Inc. (NASDAQ:KRT) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 9,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $260,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of KRT. BNP Paribas Financial Markets bought a new position in shares of Karat Packaging during the 4th quarter valued at about $231,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of Karat Packaging by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 9,550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $289,000 after purchasing an additional 1,307 shares during the period. Citadel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Karat Packaging by 91.1% in the 4th quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 34,344 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,039,000 after purchasing an additional 16,371 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in Karat Packaging by 773.6% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,590 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 1,408 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Karat Packaging by 108.5% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 84,038 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,543,000 after buying an additional 43,740 shares during the last quarter. 25.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Karat Packaging

In related news, CEO Alan Yu sold 112,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.00, for a total value of $3,037,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 6,091,305 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $164,465,235. This represents a 1.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on KRT shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Karat Packaging from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Karat Packaging in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $28.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.67.

Karat Packaging Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of KRT stock opened at $24.49 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 1.40. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $25.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.26. Karat Packaging Inc. has a 1 year low of $23.00 and a 1 year high of $33.89. The company has a market cap of $492.00 million, a PE ratio of 15.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.11.

Karat Packaging Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.3%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 20th. Karat Packaging’s dividend payout ratio is presently 113.21%.

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.