Northern Trust Corp Sells 9,311 Shares of Hawkins, Inc. $HWKN

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp reduced its holdings in Hawkins, Inc. by 4.0% during Q1, owning 225,785 shares valued at approximately $23.9 million after selling 9,311 shares.
• Hawkins recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.19 per share, an increase from the previous $0.18, with a current annualized yield of 0.5%.
• Several analysts have rated Hawkins stock with a consensus "Buy," while BWS Financial raised their price target from $160 to $200.

Northern Trust Corp cut its holdings in Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN - Free Report) by 4.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 225,785 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 9,311 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 1.08% of Hawkins worth $23,915,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Hawkins by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 101,785 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $10,781,000 after buying an additional 2,365 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Hawkins by 157,110.0% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 94,326 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $9,991,000 after purchasing an additional 94,266 shares during the period. Bridges Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Hawkins by 111.1% during the 1st quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,289 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $984,000 after purchasing an additional 4,888 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Hawkins by 2.9% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 45,599 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $4,942,000 after buying an additional 1,298 shares during the period. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH bought a new position in Hawkins in the first quarter worth about $244,000. Institutional investors own 69.71% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Hawkins Stock Up 0.7%

HWKN traded up $1.15 during trading on Thursday, hitting $167.76. 22,758 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 151,557. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.34, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.86. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $162.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $133.86. Hawkins, Inc. has a 12-month low of $98.30 and a 12-month high of $185.50. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

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

Hawkins Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This is a boost from Hawkins's previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. Hawkins's payout ratio 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.