Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN) Holdings Lifted by Bessemer Group Inc.

Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN - Free Report) by 157,110.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 94,326 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 94,266 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. owned approximately 0.45% of Hawkins worth $9,991,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its stake 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 worth $37,148,000 after buying an additional 95,885 shares during the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of Hawkins during the fourth quarter valued at $42,466,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Hawkins by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 235,096 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $28,839,000 after acquiring an additional 32,670 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Hawkins by 61.9% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 149,616 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $18,353,000 after acquiring an additional 57,179 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Hawkins in the 4th quarter valued at about $13,087,000. 69.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hawkins Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HWKN traded up $3.16 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $143.95. 302,138 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 129,233. The company has a market cap of $3.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.63, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.85. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $128.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $118.64. Hawkins, Inc. has a 52 week low of $87.24 and a 52 week high of $147.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 1.37.

Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 14th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $245.32 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $230.69 million. Hawkins had a net margin of 8.66% and a return on equity of 18.93%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Hawkins, Inc. will post 4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hawkins Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. Hawkins's payout ratio is 17.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on HWKN. CJS Securities began coverage on shares of Hawkins in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a "market outperform" rating and a $125.00 target price for the company. BWS Financial reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $160.00 price objective on shares of Hawkins in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Hawkins from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 21st.

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.