Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN) Stock Moved Up to “Hold” by Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Wednesday,Zacks reports.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on HWKN. BWS Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Hawkins in a research report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Hawkins from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Finally, Barclays set a $157.00 price target on shares of Hawkins and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hawkins presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $178.50.

Hawkins Stock Performance

Shares of HWKN opened at $153.73 on Wednesday. Hawkins has a 1 year low of $116.04 and a 1 year high of $174.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.28 and a quick ratio of 1.54. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $128.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $143.15. The firm has a market cap of $3.20 billion, a PE ratio of 37.31, a PEG ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.74.

Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 26th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.15. Hawkins had a return on equity of 15.97% and a net margin of 7.53%. The company had revenue of $313.82 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $302.70 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Hawkins will post 4.07 EPS for the current year.

Hawkins Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This is a positive change from Hawkins’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Hawkins’s payout ratio is currently 19.42%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Jeffrey Oldenkamp bought 1,290 shares of Hawkins stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 27th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $119.00 per share, with a total value of $153,510.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer directly owned 104,223 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,402,537. This represents a 1.25% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Douglas Lange bought 910 shares of Hawkins stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $118.75 per share, with a total value of $108,062.50. Following the acquisition, the vice president directly owned 28,169 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,345,068.75. This represents a 3.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 3.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hawkins

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HWKN. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Hawkins during the second quarter valued at approximately $449,055,000. Giverny Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Hawkins in the 2nd quarter worth $13,493,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of Hawkins in the 2nd quarter worth $12,860,000. Corient Private Wealth LP increased its holdings in shares of Hawkins by 79.5% in the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 8,842 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,256,000 after buying an additional 3,917 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Hawkins during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,601,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.71% of the company’s stock.

About Hawkins

Hawkins, Inc (NASDAQ:HWKN) is a chemical manufacturer, blender and distributor serving customers across the United States. The company supplies a range of water treatment chemicals, industrial chemicals and specialty products to municipal, commercial and industrial users.

Its water treatment business provides chemicals and related solutions used in drinking water, wastewater and industrial water treatment applications. Hawkins also serves the industrial, health and nutrition, and specialty chemical markets, offering products such as chemical blends, custom formulations and other materials used in manufacturing, agriculture, food processing and pharmaceutical applications.

Founded in 1938, Hawkins is headquartered in Roseville, Minnesota, and operates through a network of manufacturing, blending, distribution and sales locations in the United States.