Ellsworth Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Karat Packaging Inc. (NASDAQ:KRT)

Ellsworth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Karat Packaging Inc. (NASDAQ:KRT) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,901 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 531 shares during the quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC owned 0.09% of Karat Packaging worth $445,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Financial Management Professionals Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Karat Packaging in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in shares of Karat Packaging by 6,881.5% during the second quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 1,885 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 1,858 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Karat Packaging by 195.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,763 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 1,829 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Karat Packaging in the third quarter worth about $67,000. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its position in Karat Packaging by 61.4% during the 2nd quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 3,381 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 1,286 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 25.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on KRT shares. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Karat Packaging from $24.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $32.00 target price (up from $30.00) on shares of Karat Packaging in a report on Friday, March 15th.

Karat Packaging Stock Performance

KRT traded up $0.36 during trading on Thursday, reaching $28.61. 45,710 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 51,907. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $571.34 million, a P/E ratio of 17.44 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 3.49 and a quick ratio of 1.88. Karat Packaging Inc. has a 1 year low of $12.66 and a 1 year high of $30.94.

Karat Packaging (NASDAQ:KRT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The company reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $95.58 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $95.51 million. Karat Packaging had a return on equity of 22.54% and a net margin of 8.00%. As a group, research analysts predict that Karat Packaging Inc. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Karat Packaging Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 21st were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 20th. This is a positive change from Karat Packaging’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Karat Packaging’s payout ratio is currently 74.07%.

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.