Public Sector Pension Investment Board Purchases 13,007 Shares of Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN)

Key Points

• The Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in Hawkins, Inc. by 27.4%, acquiring an additional 13,007 shares to reach a total of 60,395 shares, valued at approximately $6.4 million.
• Hawkins recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.19, with a dividend yield of 0.4%, payable on August 29th to investors of record by August 15th.
• Analyst ratings have varied, with BWS Financial increasing its target price to $200, while Zacks Research rated the stock as a strong buy, indicating a consensus rating of Moderate Buy.

Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in shares of Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN - Free Report) by 27.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 60,395 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after acquiring an additional 13,007 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board owned about 0.29% of Hawkins worth $6,397,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its position in Hawkins by 118.8% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 280 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Hawkins during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Hawkins during the 4th quarter worth approximately $53,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Hawkins by 20.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 531 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. grew its position in Hawkins by 101.3% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 614 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.71% of the company's stock.

Hawkins Stock Down 0.5%

HWKN stock opened at $171.50 on Friday. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $154.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $128.69. The company has a market capitalization of $3.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 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. Hawkins, Inc. has a 12 month low of $98.30 and a 12 month high of $185.50.

Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $293.27 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $278.76 million. Hawkins had a net margin of 8.37% and a return on equity of 18.35%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Hawkins, Inc. will post 4 earnings per share for the current year.

Hawkins Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. 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. Hawkins's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HWKN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BWS Financial boosted their target price on shares of Hawkins from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of Hawkins in a report on Thursday, July 24th. They issued a "market perform" rating on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Hawkins from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 5th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Hawkins to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate 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.

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