Deutsche Bank AG Decreases Position in Hawkins, Inc. $HWKN

Key Points

• Deutsche Bank AG reduced its stake in Hawkins, Inc. by 8.9%, selling 1,583 shares, which brings its total holdings to 16,173 shares valued at $1,713,000.
• Analysts have varying ratings on Hawkins, with Zacks Research upgrading it to a "strong-buy" and Wall Street Zen downgrading it to "hold," while the consensus remains a "buy" with an average price target of $162.50.
• The company announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.18 to $0.19 per share, reflecting a positive outlook as it continues to maintain a payout ratio of 18.72%.

Deutsche Bank AG cut its stake in shares of Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN - Free Report) by 8.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,173 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 1,583 shares during the quarter. Deutsche Bank AG owned 0.08% of Hawkins worth $1,713,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in HWKN. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its position in Hawkins by 56.9% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 9,605 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $1,178,000 after buying an additional 3,485 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Hawkins by 88.5% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 13,377 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $1,641,000 after buying an additional 6,280 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Hawkins by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 41,722 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $5,118,000 after buying an additional 1,994 shares during the period. Mariner LLC boosted its position in Hawkins by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 1,956 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $240,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Hawkins during the 4th quarter worth approximately $53,000. 69.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Hawkins Stock Performance

NASDAQ HWKN traded up $1.29 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $172.78. 97,253 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 199,299. Hawkins, Inc. has a 1 year low of $98.30 and a 1 year high of $185.50. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $159.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $131.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.81.

Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.07. Hawkins had a net margin of 8.37% and a return on equity of 18.35%. The firm had revenue of $293.27 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $278.76 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that Hawkins, Inc. will post 4 earnings per share for the current year.

Hawkins Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This is an increase from Hawkins's previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. Hawkins's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.72%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HWKN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of Hawkins in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. They set a "market perform" rating on the stock. BWS Financial boosted their price target on shares of Hawkins from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Hawkins to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Hawkins from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $162.50.

Hawkins Profile

Hawkins, Inc operates as a specialty chemical and ingredients company in the United States. It operates through three segments: Industrial, Water Treatment, and Health and Nutrition. The Industrial segment offers industrial chemicals, products, and services to agriculture, chemical processing, electronics, energy, food, pharmaceutical, and plating industries.