North Star Investment Management Corp. Makes New Investment in Karat Packaging Inc. $KRT

North Star Investment Management Corp. purchased a new position in Karat Packaging Inc. (NASDAQ:KRT) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 61,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,377,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Karat Packaging in the fourth quarter valued at $2,398,000. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. increased its stake in Karat Packaging by 130.2% in the third quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 57,552 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,447,000 after purchasing an additional 32,552 shares during the period. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Karat Packaging in the 3rd quarter worth $5,039,000. KTF Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Karat Packaging in the 4th quarter worth $5,075,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Karat Packaging by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 40,390 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,137,000 after acquiring an additional 770 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 25.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KRT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Karat Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 22nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Karat Packaging in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Bank of America set a $24.00 price target on shares of Karat Packaging and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Karat Packaging from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Karat Packaging has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.50.

Karat Packaging Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of Karat Packaging stock opened at $28.69 on Friday. Karat Packaging Inc. has a 52-week low of $20.61 and a 52-week high of $32.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 2.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $27.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.89. The firm has a market cap of $572.65 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.99.

Karat Packaging (NASDAQ:KRT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 12th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.06. Karat Packaging had a net margin of 6.73% and a return on equity of 19.63%. The business had revenue of $115.62 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $113.95 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Karat Packaging Inc. will post 1.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Karat Packaging Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 20th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 20th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.3%. Karat Packaging’s payout ratio is currently 115.38%.

Karat Packaging Profile

Karat Packaging Technologies, Inc (NASDAQ: KRT) is a U.S.-based provider of premium packaging solutions for consumer goods and industrial products. The company specializes in the design, manufacture and delivery of high-quality litho-laminated folding cartons, tubes and flexible packaging. Karat Packaging operates an integrated production model that combines prepress, printing, converting and finishing capabilities to support the branding and shelf-appeal needs of its customers.

The company serves a diverse range of end markets, including food and beverage, confectionery, health and beauty, pharmaceuticals, specialty chemicals and promotional packaging.