Contrasting Karat Packaging (KRT) & Its Peers

Karat Packaging (NASDAQ:KRT) is one of 158 public companies in the “Trading Companies & Distributors” industry, but how does it contrast to its rivals? We will compare Karat Packaging to similar businesses based on the strength of its institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

25.2% of Karat Packaging shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 51.1% of shares of all “Trading Companies & Distributors” companies are held by institutional investors. 57.9% of Karat Packaging shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 17.1% of shares of all “Trading Companies & Distributors” companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Karat Packaging and its rivals, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Karat Packaging	1	2	3	0	2.33
Karat Packaging Competitors	1464	4953	6820	238	2.43

Karat Packaging currently has a consensus price target of $47.00, suggesting a potential downside of 14.38%. As a group, “Trading Companies & Distributors” companies have a potential upside of 8.17%. Given Karat Packaging’s rivals stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Karat Packaging has less favorable growth aspects than its rivals.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Karat Packaging and its rivals top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Karat Packaging	$467.74 million	$31.48 million	21.96
Karat Packaging Competitors	$6.62 billion	$360.25 million	32.91

Karat Packaging’s rivals have higher revenue and earnings than Karat Packaging. Karat Packaging is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Dividends

Karat Packaging pays an annual dividend of $1.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Karat Packaging pays out 75.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. As a group, “Trading Companies & Distributors” companies pay a dividend yield of 2.6% and pay out 34.8% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Karat Packaging has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years.

Profitability

This table compares Karat Packaging and its rivals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Karat Packaging	10.18%	30.62%	16.67%
Karat Packaging Competitors	1.01%	-33.87%	3.50%

Risk and Volatility

Karat Packaging has a beta of 0.79, suggesting that its share price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Karat Packaging’s rivals have a beta of 1.33, suggesting that their average share price is 33% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Karat Packaging rivals beat Karat Packaging on 10 of the 15 factors compared.

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. The company also provides new product development, design, printing, and logistics services. It offers its products to national and regional distributors, restaurant chains, retail establishments, and online customers. The company was founded in 2000 and is based in Chino, California.