Karat Packaging (NASDAQ:KRT) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Karat Packaging's stock rating was downgraded from "strong-buy" to "buy" by Wall Street Zen, reflecting a shift in analyst sentiment.
• Truist Financial increased its price target for Karat Packaging from $28 to $31 while maintaining a "hold" rating on the stock.
• CEO Alan Yu sold 750,000 shares of the company's stock, reducing his ownership by approximately 10.79%, which raised concerns among investors about insider confidence.

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Karat Packaging (NASDAQ:KRT - Free Report) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Saturday morning.

Separately, Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Karat Packaging from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $31.67.

Karat Packaging Trading Down 0.9%

NASDAQ:KRT traded down $0.23 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $26.08. The company had a trading volume of 19,864 shares, compared to its average volume of 59,851. The company has a market capitalization of $523.85 million, a PE ratio of 16.41 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $27.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.46. Karat Packaging has a 52 week low of $23.00 and a 52 week high of $33.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 1.53.

Karat Packaging Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.9%. Karat Packaging's payout ratio is 113.21%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Alan Yu sold 112,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.00, for a total transaction of $3,037,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 6,091,305 shares in the company, valued at approximately $164,465,235. The trade was a 1.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 66.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Karat Packaging

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of KRT. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Karat Packaging by 13.7% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 279,361 shares of the company's stock worth $7,863,000 after purchasing an additional 33,627 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Karat Packaging by 7.9% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 229,038 shares of the company's stock worth $6,450,000 after purchasing an additional 16,698 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Karat Packaging by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 182,271 shares of the company's stock worth $5,517,000 after purchasing an additional 3,626 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of Karat Packaging by 92.2% in the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 171,119 shares of the company's stock worth $4,819,000 after purchasing an additional 82,091 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Karat Packaging by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 145,946 shares of the company's stock worth $4,416,000 after purchasing an additional 12,676 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 25.20% of the company's stock.

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.