B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Boosts Stock Position in Hawkins, Inc. $HWKN

Key Points

• B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG increased its holdings in Hawkins, Inc. by 19.9% in Q1, bringing its total shares to 9,281, valued at approximately $983,000.
• Hawkins recently reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $1.40 for the quarter, exceeding the consensus estimate of $1.33, and generated revenues of $293.27 million.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.19 per share, reflecting an increase over the previous dividend and resulting in an annual yield of 0.5%.

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG boosted its position in shares of Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN - Free Report) by 19.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,281 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,538 shares during the quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG's holdings in Hawkins were worth $983,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of HWKN. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its holdings in Hawkins by 31.5% during the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 599,015 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $63,448,000 after purchasing an additional 143,425 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its position in Hawkins by 37.6% during the 1st quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 350,722 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $37,148,000 after purchasing an additional 95,885 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in Hawkins by 157,110.0% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 94,326 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $9,991,000 after purchasing an additional 94,266 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Hawkins by 291.5% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 86,100 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $10,562,000 after purchasing an additional 64,110 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Hawkins by 12,653.7% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 56,244 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $59,570,000 after purchasing an additional 55,803 shares during the period. 69.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Hawkins Stock Up 0.5%

HWKN stock traded up $0.82 on Thursday, hitting $167.43. 28,802 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 151,589. Hawkins, Inc. has a 12-month low of $98.30 and a 12-month high of $185.50. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $162.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $133.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a current ratio of 2.31. The stock has a market cap of $3.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.86.

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, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $278.76 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Hawkins, Inc. will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hawkins Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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%. This is a boost from Hawkins's previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. Hawkins's dividend payout ratio is presently 18.72%.

About Hawkins

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.