Karat Packaging Inc. (NASDAQ:KRT) Short Interest Down 8.0% in December

Karat Packaging Inc. (NASDAQ:KRT) saw a significant drop in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 68,700 shares, a drop of 8.0% from the December 15th total of 74,700 shares. Currently, 1.0% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 35,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.9 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Karat Packaging

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Rhumbline Advisers increased 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 worth $272,000 after acquiring an additional 387 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Karat Packaging by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,720 shares of the company’s stock worth $511,000 after purchasing an additional 1,053 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in shares of Karat Packaging by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 28,488 shares of the company’s stock worth $738,000 after purchasing an additional 1,148 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Karat Packaging in the third quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Ellsworth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Karat Packaging by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 21,783 shares of the company’s stock valued at $564,000 after acquiring an additional 1,381 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 25.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on KRT shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Karat Packaging from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. William Blair lowered Karat Packaging from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd.

Karat Packaging Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of KRT stock traded up $0.45 on Friday, hitting $29.58. 24,623 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 34,574. The stock has a market capitalization of $592.31 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.13 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a current ratio of 3.12. Karat Packaging has a one year low of $23.10 and a one year high of $33.14. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $30.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.99.

Karat Packaging Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 20th. This is a positive change from Karat Packaging’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.41%. Karat Packaging’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 114.29%.

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.