Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 2,365 Shares of Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN - Free Report) by 2.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 101,785 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after buying an additional 2,365 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.49% of Hawkins worth $10,781,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of HWKN. Wasatch Advisors LP bought a new stake in Hawkins during the 4th quarter worth $42,466,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Hawkins during the 4th quarter worth approximately $13,087,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 95,885 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings 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 worth $9,991,000 after acquiring an additional 94,266 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in Hawkins by 900.2% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 82,576 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $10,166,000 after acquiring an additional 74,320 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 69.71% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on HWKN shares. BWS Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $160.00 price target on shares of Hawkins in a report on Thursday, May 15th. CJS Securities started coverage on Hawkins in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a "market outperform" rating and a $125.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Hawkins from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 5th.

Hawkins Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of HWKN traded up $1.33 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $159.39. 25,675 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 133,074. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.85. The business has a 50-day moving average of $134.88 and a 200-day moving average of $120.33. Hawkins, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $98.08 and a fifty-two week high of $160.33.

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

Hawkins Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th were paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 30th. Hawkins's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.82%.

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.