Bailard Inc. Acquires 9,487 Shares of Karat Packaging Inc. $KRT

Bailard Inc. raised its stake in shares of Karat Packaging Inc. (NASDAQ:KRT) by 75.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 22,060 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 9,487 shares during the period. Bailard Inc. owned 0.11% of Karat Packaging worth $621,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Karat Packaging by 13.7% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 279,361 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,863,000 after acquiring an additional 33,627 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Karat Packaging by 133.4% in the 2nd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 63,596 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,791,000 after purchasing an additional 36,352 shares during the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. lifted its holdings in Karat Packaging by 148.0% in the 2nd quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 25,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $704,000 after purchasing an additional 14,920 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its position in Karat Packaging by 95.1% during the second quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 39,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,103,000 after purchasing an additional 19,098 shares during the period. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC acquired a new position in Karat Packaging during the second quarter valued at approximately $259,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 25.20% of the company’s stock.

Karat Packaging Price Performance

NASDAQ:KRT opened at $22.21 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 2.14 and a quick ratio of 1.40. Karat Packaging Inc. has a one year low of $21.25 and a one year high of $33.89. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $24.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.64. The stock has a market cap of $446.42 million, a P/E ratio of 14.81, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.09.

Karat Packaging (NASDAQ:KRT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.37. The company had revenue of $124.52 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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. Analysts anticipate that Karat Packaging Inc. will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Karat Packaging Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 21st will be issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 21st. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.1%. Karat Packaging’s dividend payout ratio is 120.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on KRT shares. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Karat Packaging from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Karat Packaging from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $31.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Karat Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Karat Packaging from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.67.

Karat Packaging 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.