Rhumbline Advisers Sells 8,896 Shares of Hawkins, Inc. $HWKN

Key Points

• Rhumbline Advisers reduced its stake in Hawkins, Inc. by 14.8%, selling 8,896 shares and holding 51,159 shares, representing a value of approximately $5.42 million.
• Hawkins, Inc. has received mixed ratings from analysts, with Zacks Research upgrading it to a "strong-buy" rating, whereas Wall Street Zen downgraded it to a "hold."
• The company recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.18 to $0.19 per share, reflecting a 0.4% dividend yield and a payout ratio of 18.72%.

Rhumbline Advisers reduced its position in Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN - Free Report) by 14.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 51,159 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 8,896 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers owned about 0.25% of Hawkins worth $5,419,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its stake in shares of Hawkins by 533.3% in the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 266 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Hawkins by 118.8% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 280 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the period. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Hawkins during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Hawkins during the 1st quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. bought a new stake in Hawkins in the 1st quarter valued at $52,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.71% of the company's stock.

Hawkins Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of HWKN stock traded up $0.91 on Monday, reaching $174.21. The company had a trading volume of 130,929 shares, compared to its average volume of 120,639. The stock has a market cap of $3.64 billion, a PE ratio of 42.91, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a 50-day moving average of $166.90 and a 200-day moving average of $137.86. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.07. Hawkins had a net margin of 8.37% and a return on equity of 18.35%. The business had revenue of $293.27 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $278.76 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that Hawkins, Inc. will post 4 earnings per share for the current year.

Hawkins Increases Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis 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 is currently 18.72%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on HWKN. Zacks Research upgraded Hawkins to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. BWS Financial raised their price objective on shares of Hawkins from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded Hawkins from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 5th. Finally, Raymond James Financial began coverage on Hawkins in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. They issued a "market perform" rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average 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.