LPL Financial LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Karat Packaging Inc. (NASDAQ:KRT)

LPL Financial LLC cut its holdings in shares of Karat Packaging Inc. (NASDAQ:KRT) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 32,809 shares of the company’s stock after selling 700 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Karat Packaging were worth $993,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Karat Packaging by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 187,549 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,675,000 after buying an additional 6,224 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Karat Packaging by 15.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 178,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,626,000 after acquiring an additional 24,020 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in Karat Packaging by 12.5% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 71,153 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,843,000 after acquiring an additional 7,911 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in Karat Packaging by 21.7% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 34,666 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,049,000 after acquiring an additional 6,178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Karat Packaging in the 4th quarter worth about $291,000. 25.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, William Blair downgraded shares of Karat Packaging from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd.

Karat Packaging Stock Performance

NASDAQ:KRT opened at $24.39 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $28.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.97. The company has a current ratio of 3.12, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Karat Packaging Inc. has a twelve month low of $23.00 and a twelve month high of $33.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $488.70 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.42 and a beta of 1.12.

Karat Packaging (NASDAQ:KRT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.14). Karat Packaging had a return on equity of 19.84% and a net margin of 6.78%. The company had revenue of $101.65 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $102.27 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect 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, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were given a $0.45 dividend. This is an increase from Karat Packaging’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.38%. Karat Packaging’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 120.81%.

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.