Index Fund Advisors Inc. Invests $401,000 in Hawkins, Inc. $HWKN

Key Points

• Index Fund Advisors Inc. has invested $401,000 in Hawkins, Inc. by acquiring 2,819 shares of the company, which indicates growing interest from institutional investors.
• Hawkins recently reported earnings of $1.40 per share, surpassing expectations and showing a revenue of $293.27 million for the last quarter.
• The company announced a dividend increase to $0.19 per share, up from the previous $0.18, reflecting a dividend yield of 0.5% and a payout ratio of 18.72%.

Index Fund Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 2,819 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $401,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its stake in Hawkins by 31.5% in the 1st 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 during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its stake in Hawkins by 35.1% in the 2nd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 473,752 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $67,320,000 after acquiring an additional 123,030 shares during the period. GW&K Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Hawkins by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 220,327 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $23,337,000 after acquiring an additional 6,832 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. bought a new stake in Hawkins in the 2nd quarter valued at about $16,956,000. Finally, Royce & Associates LP raised its stake in Hawkins by 8.3% in the 1st quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 114,812 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $12,161,000 after acquiring an additional 8,785 shares during the period. 69.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Hawkins Stock Down 2.2%

HWKN stock opened at $166.80 on Monday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $3.48 billion, a PE ratio of 41.08, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.84. Hawkins, Inc. has a twelve month low of $98.30 and a twelve month high of $186.15. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $173.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $147.23.

Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $293.27 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $278.76 million. Hawkins had a return on equity of 18.35% and a net margin of 8.37%. On average, equities analysts predict 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. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were given a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. This is a positive change from Hawkins's previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. Hawkins's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.72%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on HWKN shares. Raymond James Financial started coverage on Hawkins in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. They issued a "market perform" rating on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut Hawkins from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Hawkins in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Zacks Research cut Hawkins from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, BWS Financial boosted their price objective on Hawkins from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hawkins has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $162.50.

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.

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