Hawkins, Inc. $HWKN Shares Sold by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Key Points

• Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. reduced its stake in Hawkins, Inc. by 2.4% during Q1, now holding 232,751 shares worth approximately $24.7 million.
• The company recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.18 to $0.19 per share, with the dividend payout ratio at 18.72%.
• Hawkins reported better-than-expected earnings for the last quarter, with EPS of $1.40 compared to analysts' estimates of $1.33 and a revenue of $293.27 million.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN - Free Report) by 2.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 232,751 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 5,749 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 1.11% of Hawkins worth $24,653,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Hawkins by 31.5% during the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 599,015 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $63,448,000 after acquiring an additional 143,425 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Hawkins by 18.1% during the first quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 58,056 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $6,149,000 after purchasing an additional 8,877 shares in the last quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Hawkins by 4.0% during the first quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 46,476 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $4,923,000 after purchasing an additional 1,771 shares in the last quarter. De Lisle Partners LLP grew its holdings in shares of Hawkins by 2.1% during the first quarter. De Lisle Partners LLP now owns 97,419 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $10,336,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hawkins by 3.9% during the first quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 4,881 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $517,000 after buying an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.71% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on HWKN. Zacks Research raised shares of Hawkins to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. BWS Financial increased their target price on shares of Hawkins from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Hawkins from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 5th. Finally, Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of Hawkins in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. They set a "market perform" rating for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $162.50.

Hawkins Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:HWKN traded up $1.28 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $171.49. 153,959 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 196,933. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 2.31 and a quick ratio of 1.45. Hawkins, Inc. has a 1 year low of $98.30 and a 1 year high of $185.50. The firm has a market cap of $3.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.81. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $159.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $131.62.

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

Hawkins Increases Dividend

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

Hawkins Company 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.