Teton Advisors Inc. Sells 1,900 Shares of Hawkins, Inc. $HWKN

Key Points

• Teton Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in Hawkins, Inc. by 29.7%, selling 1,900 shares, and now owns 4,500 shares worth $477,000.
• Hawkins, Inc. recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.19, with a payout ratio of 18.72% and a yield of 0.4%.
• Analysts have mixed views on Hawkins, with one firm rating it as a "strong-buy" while others offer "buy" and "hold" ratings, setting an average target price of $162.50.

Teton Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN - Free Report) by 29.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,500 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 1,900 shares during the quarter. Teton Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Hawkins were worth $477,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of HWKN. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its stake in Hawkins by 533.3% during the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 266 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its stake in Hawkins by 118.8% during the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 280 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Hawkins during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in Hawkins during the first quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. acquired a new position in Hawkins during the first quarter worth $52,000. 69.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HWKN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded Hawkins to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. BWS Financial increased their price objective on Hawkins from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered Hawkins from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 5th. Finally, Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on Hawkins in a report on Thursday, July 24th. They set 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's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $162.50.

Hawkins Price Performance

Shares of HWKN stock traded down $2.49 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $167.33. 95,760 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 183,241. The stock's 50-day moving average is $161.22 and its 200-day moving average is $132.83. 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 stock has a market cap of $3.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.81. Hawkins, Inc. has a 52 week low of $98.30 and a 52 week high of $185.50.

Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.40 earnings per share (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 analysts' expectations of $278.76 million. Hawkins had a return on equity of 18.35% and a net margin of 8.37%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Hawkins, Inc. will post 4 EPS for the current year.

Hawkins Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a $0.19 dividend. This is a positive change from Hawkins's previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. Hawkins's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.72%.

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.