California State Teachers Retirement System Purchases 749 Shares of Hawkins, Inc. $HWKN

Key Points

• Institutional ownership increased: California State Teachers Retirement System raised its Hawkins stake by 3.3% to 23,183 shares, while several other funds initiated positions. Institutions and hedge funds now own 69.71% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: Hawkins has a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $171, with ratings ranging from Buy to Strong Sell.
• Shares remain below recent highs: HWKN traded around $121.33, compared with a 52-week range of $116.04 to $186.15. The company recently missed quarterly EPS estimates, though revenue exceeded expectations, and it maintains a $0.19 quarterly dividend.

California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN - Free Report) by 3.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,183 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 749 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.11% of Hawkins worth $3,294,304 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Round Rock Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hawkins during the second quarter worth approximately $336,000. Nykredit A S bought a new position in shares of Hawkins in the second quarter valued at approximately $125,000. SkyOak Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hawkins in the second quarter valued at $212,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in Hawkins in the 2nd quarter worth $1,601,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LP bought a new stake in Hawkins in the second quarter valued at $1,272,000. 69.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HWKN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings lowered Hawkins from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Thursday, August 27th. BWS Financial reissued a "buy" rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Hawkins in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Barclays set a $142.00 price objective on Hawkins and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Hawkins from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $171.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Douglas A. Lange bought 910 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $118.75 per share, with a total value of $108,062.50. Following the purchase, the vice president directly owned 28,169 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,345,068.75. The trade was a 3.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Jeffrey P. Oldenkamp acquired 1,290 shares of Hawkins stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 27th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $119.00 per share, with a total value of $153,510.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer owned 104,223 shares in the company, valued at $12,402,537. The trade was a 1.25% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 3.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hawkins Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of HWKN traded up $0.67 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $121.33. The company's stock had a trading volume of 146,012 shares, compared to its average volume of 163,816. The business has a fifty day moving average of $130.54 and a 200 day moving average of $145.66. Hawkins, Inc. has a 1 year low of $116.04 and a 1 year high of $186.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 2.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company has a market cap of $2.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.77.

Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.39 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $315.68 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $313.42 million. Hawkins had a return on equity of 15.42% and a net margin of 7.29%. As a group, analysts forecast that Hawkins, Inc. will post 4.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hawkins Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th were issued a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 14th. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Hawkins's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.73%.

About Hawkins

Hawkins, Inc NASDAQ: HWKN manufactures, distributes and blends specialty chemicals and related products for customers in a range of markets. Its offerings include water-treatment chemicals, industrial chemicals, and ingredients used in health, nutrition and other applications.

The company's Water Treatment segment supplies products such as sodium hypochlorite, ferric chloride, phosphates and other chemicals used by municipalities, commercial operators and industrial customers. Its Industrial segment serves manufacturers and other businesses, while the Health and Nutrition segment provides ingredients and specialty products for food, pharmaceutical, personal-care and related applications.

Founded in 1938, Hawkins is headquartered in Roseville, Minnesota, and serves customers primarily throughout the United States through a network of manufacturing, blending, distribution and storage facilities.

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