Karat Packaging Inc. (NASDAQ:KRT) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Karat Packaging Inc. (NASDAQ:KRT) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 92,800 shares, an increase of 5.3% from the August 15th total of 88,100 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 47,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.9 days. Currently, 1.4% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Karat Packaging

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in shares of Karat Packaging by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 9,203 shares of the company’s stock valued at $272,000 after acquiring an additional 387 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Karat Packaging by 2.0% during the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 36,922 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,056,000 after purchasing an additional 710 shares in the last quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Karat Packaging in the second quarter worth about $33,000. Ellsworth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Karat Packaging by 7.0% in the second quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 20,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $603,000 after buying an additional 1,336 shares during the period. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Karat Packaging in the second quarter valued at about $52,000. 25.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Karat Packaging Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of KRT stock opened at $25.48 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $26.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 3.05 and a quick ratio of 1.62. Karat Packaging has a 1-year low of $17.23 and a 1-year high of $30.94. The firm has a market cap of $508.96 million, a P/E ratio of 17.22 and a beta of 1.03.

Karat Packaging (NASDAQ:KRT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.11). Karat Packaging had a return on equity of 19.79% and a net margin of 6.90%. The company had revenue of $112.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $114.03 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.68 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Karat Packaging will post 1.84 EPS for the current year.

Karat Packaging Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.49%. Karat Packaging’s dividend payout ratio is presently 94.59%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Truist Financial downgraded Karat Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $34.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Friday, August 9th.

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.