Karat Packaging Inc. (NASDAQ:KRT) Short Interest Up 13.0% in March

Karat Packaging Inc. (NASDAQ:KRT) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 116,000 shares, a growth of 13.0% from the March 15th total of 102,700 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 50,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.3 days. Currently, 1.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on KRT. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $32.00 target price (up previously from $30.00) on shares of Karat Packaging in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Karat Packaging from $24.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Karat Packaging

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Karat Packaging in the third quarter worth about $1,173,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new position in shares of Karat Packaging in the third quarter worth about $477,000. Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Karat Packaging by 69.5% in the fourth quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 17,887 shares of the company’s stock worth $445,000 after buying an additional 7,336 shares during the period. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Karat Packaging in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Check Capital Management Inc. CA acquired a new position in shares of Karat Packaging in the third quarter worth about $461,000. Institutional investors own 25.20% of the company’s stock.

Karat Packaging Stock Performance

NASDAQ:KRT opened at $27.27 on Tuesday. Karat Packaging has a twelve month low of $13.01 and a twelve month high of $30.94. The company has a current ratio of 3.49, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company has a 50-day moving average of $28.06 and a 200-day moving average of $24.51. The firm has a market cap of $544.58 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.83 and a beta of 1.05.

Karat Packaging (NASDAQ:KRT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 14th. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.16). Karat Packaging had a net margin of 8.00% and a return on equity of 22.54%. The business had revenue of $95.58 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $95.51 million. Analysts forecast that Karat Packaging will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Karat Packaging Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This is a positive change from Karat Packaging’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 20th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.40%. Karat Packaging’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.07%.

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.