Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Raises Stock Position in Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN)

Key Points

• Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its holdings in Hawkins, Inc. by 31.5%, acquiring an additional 143,425 shares, bringing their total to 599,015 shares, worth approximately $63.4 million.
• Hawkins, Inc. reported quarterly earnings with an EPS of $1.40, exceeding analysts' expectations, and announced a dividend increase to $0.19, effective August 15th.
• Analysts provided mixed ratings for Hawkins, with Wall Street Zen downgrading it to a "hold", while BWS Financial raised the price target and maintained a "buy" rating.

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN - Free Report) by 31.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 599,015 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after buying an additional 143,425 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. owned about 2.86% of Hawkins worth $63,448,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Hawkins during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hawkins in the 4th quarter valued at $53,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Hawkins by 20.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 531 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of Hawkins by 101.3% during the first 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. 69.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HWKN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Raymond James Financial began coverage on shares of Hawkins in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. They set a "market perform" rating on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Hawkins from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 5th. Finally, BWS Financial raised their price target on Hawkins from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st.

Hawkins Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HWKN traded up $3.16 during trading on Thursday, reaching $173.73. The company had a trading volume of 177,458 shares, compared to its average volume of 214,886. 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's fifty day moving average price is $149.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $126.17. Hawkins, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $98.30 and a fifty-two week high of $173.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.81.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $293.27 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 predict that Hawkins, Inc. will post 4 EPS for the current year.

Hawkins Increases Dividend

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

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.