Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN) Shares Bought by Natixis Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC has increased its holdings in Hawkins, Inc. by 18.1% during the 1st quarter, now owning approximately $6.15 million worth of stock.
• Hawkins reported $1.40 earnings per share for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations of $1.33, with revenue of $293.27 million.
• The company has increased its quarterly dividend from $0.18 to $0.19, indicating a commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN - Free Report) by 18.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 58,056 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,877 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned about 0.28% of Hawkins worth $6,149,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NorthRock Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Hawkins by 4.0% in the first quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 46,476 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $4,923,000 after purchasing an additional 1,771 shares during the period. De Lisle Partners LLP increased its position in Hawkins by 2.1% during the first quarter. De Lisle Partners LLP now owns 97,419 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $10,336,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hawkins by 3.9% in the first quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 4,881 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $517,000 after buying an additional 182 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP lifted its stake in shares of Hawkins by 8.3% during the 1st quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 114,812 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $12,161,000 after acquiring an additional 8,785 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GW&K Investment Management LLC grew its position 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.71% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on HWKN shares. Raymond James Financial began coverage on shares of Hawkins in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. They set a "market perform" rating for the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Hawkins from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 5th. Finally, BWS Financial increased their target price on shares of Hawkins from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st.

Hawkins Stock Performance

HWKN traded up $3.16 on Thursday, reaching $173.73. 177,458 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 214,886. Hawkins, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $98.30 and a fifty-two week high of $173.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.63 billion, a PE ratio of 42.01, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 2.31 and a quick ratio of 1.45. The company's 50-day moving average price is $148.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $125.76.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $278.76 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Hawkins, Inc. will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hawkins Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.19 per share. This is an increase from Hawkins's previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Hawkins's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.73%.

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.