Hawkins, Inc. $HWKN Shares Sold by Rhumbline Advisers

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

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its holdings in Hawkins by 533.3% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 266 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Hawkins by 118.8% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 280 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Hawkins in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Hawkins in the 1st quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Hawkins in the 1st quarter valued at about $52,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.71% of the company's stock.

Hawkins Stock Performance

Hawkins stock traded up $3.82 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $177.53. 173,848 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 119,002. Hawkins, Inc. has a twelve month low of $98.30 and a twelve month high of $185.50. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $168.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $138.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a current ratio of 2.31. The firm has a market cap of $3.71 billion, a PE ratio of 43.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.86.

Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.07. Hawkins had a return on equity of 18.35% and a net margin of 8.37%.The company had revenue of $293.27 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $278.76 million. Equities analysts predict that Hawkins, Inc. will post 4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hawkins Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were given a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This is a positive change from Hawkins's previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. Hawkins's payout ratio is 18.72%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HWKN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded Hawkins to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Hawkins from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 5th. BWS Financial increased their price objective on Hawkins from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on Hawkins in a report on Thursday, July 24th. They issued a "market perform" rating on the stock. One equities research 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $162.50.

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.