Hawkins, Inc. $HWKN Stake Reduced by Vanguard Group Inc.

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its stake in Hawkins, Inc. by 0.7%, now owning 6.96% of the company, worth approximately $154.3 million after selling 9,748 shares in the first quarter.
• Hawkins reported better-than-expected earnings of $1.40 per share for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' estimates of $1.33, with revenues totaling $293.27 million.
• The company announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.19 per share, with the payment scheduled for August 29th, marking a rise from the previous dividend of $0.18.

Vanguard Group Inc. decreased its stake in Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN - Free Report) by 0.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,456,893 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 9,748 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 6.96% of Hawkins worth $154,314,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Hawkins by 31.5% during the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 599,015 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $63,448,000 after buying an additional 143,425 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its position in Hawkins by 37.6% in the first quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 350,722 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $37,148,000 after acquiring an additional 95,885 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Hawkins by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 235,096 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $28,839,000 after purchasing an additional 32,670 shares during the period. GW&K Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Hawkins by 3.2% during the first quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 220,327 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $23,337,000 after purchasing an additional 6,832 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royce & Associates LP lifted its position in shares of Hawkins by 8.3% during the first quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 114,812 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $12,161,000 after purchasing an additional 8,785 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.71% of the company's stock.

Hawkins Stock Performance

Shares of HWKN traded up $1.28 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $171.49. The stock had a trading volume of 153,959 shares, compared to its average volume of 196,933. Hawkins, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $98.30 and a fifty-two week high of $185.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company has a market cap of $3.58 billion, a PE ratio of 42.24, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.81. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $159.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $131.62.

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

Hawkins Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a $0.19 dividend. This is an increase from Hawkins's previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Hawkins's dividend payout ratio is 18.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on HWKN. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Hawkins from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 5th. BWS Financial upped 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. Zacks Research upgraded Hawkins to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on Hawkins in a research note 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 assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hawkins currently has an average rating of "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.