Karat Packaging (NASDAQ:KRT) Rating Lowered to Market Perform at William Blair

William Blair lowered shares of Karat Packaging (NASDAQ:KRT) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a report published on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. William Blair also issued estimates for Karat Packaging’s FY2026 earnings at $1.96 EPS.

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus raised 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.

Karat Packaging Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of KRT stock opened at $30.24 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $605.53 million, a PE ratio of 21.60 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 3.12 and a quick ratio of 1.82. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $30.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.97. Karat Packaging has a 1 year low of $22.51 and a 1 year high of $33.14.

Karat Packaging Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is a boost from Karat Packaging’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.29%. Karat Packaging’s dividend payout ratio is currently 114.29%.

Institutional Trading of Karat Packaging

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Karat Packaging during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,359,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new stake in shares of Karat Packaging in the second quarter valued at about $1,162,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Karat Packaging by 37.8% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 116,980 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,460,000 after acquiring an additional 32,069 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Karat Packaging by 15.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 178,645 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,626,000 after acquiring an additional 24,020 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its position in Karat Packaging by 186.4% during the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 34,366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $890,000 after purchasing an additional 22,365 shares during the period. 25.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.