Karat Packaging Inc. (NASDAQ:KRT) Shares Purchased by Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd.

Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. raised its stake in Karat Packaging Inc. (NASDAQ:KRT) by 40.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,180 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,500 shares during the quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd.’s holdings in Karat Packaging were worth $157,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Rhumbline Advisers lifted 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 purchasing an additional 387 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Karat Packaging by 2.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 121,473 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,592,000 after acquiring an additional 3,397 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Karat Packaging by 8.8% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 33,515 shares of the company’s stock worth $991,000 after acquiring an additional 2,700 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Karat Packaging by 37.8% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 116,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,460,000 after acquiring an additional 32,069 shares during the period. Finally, Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Karat Packaging in the 3rd quarter valued at about $401,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 25.20% of the company’s stock.

Karat Packaging Stock Up 0.2 %

KRT stock opened at $31.42 on Friday. Karat Packaging Inc. has a 52 week low of $23.10 and a 52 week high of $33.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.82, a current ratio of 3.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $629.03 million, a P/E ratio of 22.44 and a beta of 1.08.

Karat Packaging (NASDAQ:KRT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $112.77 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $113.58 million. Karat Packaging had a return on equity of 19.84% and a net margin of 6.78%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.47 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Karat Packaging Inc. will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Karat Packaging Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This is an increase from Karat Packaging’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 20th. Karat Packaging’s dividend payout ratio is currently 114.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on KRT. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Karat Packaging from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research 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 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.