Invesco Ltd. Sells 63,364 Shares of Hawkins, Inc. $HWKN

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. has reduced its ownership in Hawkins, Inc. by 25.2%, selling 63,364 shares and now holds approximately 0.90% of the company's stock valued at nearly $19.9 million.
• Multiple hedge funds have increased their stakes in Hawkins, with Wells Fargo & Company MN raising its position by 56.9% and Envestnet Asset Management boosting theirs by 88.5% during the fourth quarter.
• Hawkins, Inc. has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.19, up from $0.18, representing an annual dividend yield of 0.5% that will be paid to stockholders on August 29th.

Invesco Ltd. trimmed its position in Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN - Free Report) by 25.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 187,846 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 63,364 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned 0.90% of Hawkins worth $19,897,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Hawkins by 2.4% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 101,785 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $10,781,000 after purchasing an additional 2,365 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hawkins by 157,110.0% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 94,326 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $9,991,000 after acquiring an additional 94,266 shares during the last quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hawkins by 111.1% in the first quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,289 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $984,000 after acquiring an additional 4,888 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Hawkins by 2.9% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 45,599 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $4,942,000 after acquiring an additional 1,298 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH purchased a new stake in shares of Hawkins in the first quarter worth $244,000. 69.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hawkins Stock Performance

HWKN stock traded up $1.29 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $172.78. The stock had a trading volume of 97,253 shares, compared to its average volume of 199,299. Hawkins, Inc. has a 52 week low of $98.30 and a 52 week high of $185.50. The stock's 50 day moving average is $159.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $131.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market cap of $3.61 billion, a PE ratio of 42.56, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.81.

Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Hawkins, Inc. will post 4 earnings per share for the current year.

Hawkins Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Raymond James Financial assumed 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. Zacks Research raised Hawkins to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, BWS Financial increased their target price on Hawkins from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $162.50.

Hawkins 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.