Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN) has received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from four brokerages, with a 12-month price target averaging $162.50.
• The company reported earnings of $1.40 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, along with a revenue of $293.27 million.
• Hawkins recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.18 to $0.19, representing an annualized dividend yield of 0.4%.

Shares of Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the four brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $162.50.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on HWKN shares. BWS Financial lifted their price objective on Hawkins from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen cut Hawkins from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 5th. Zacks Research cut shares of Hawkins from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Hawkins in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of Hawkins in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. They set a "market perform" rating for the company.

Hawkins Stock Up 0.5%

NASDAQ HWKN traded up $0.95 on Friday, hitting $182.88. The stock had a trading volume of 101,808 shares, compared to its average volume of 151,334. The business's fifty day moving average price is $171.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $143.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 2.31 and a quick ratio of 1.45. Hawkins has a 52-week low of $98.30 and a 52-week high of $185.50. The stock has a market cap of $3.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.84.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $293.27 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $278.76 million. Hawkins had a net margin of 8.37% and a return on equity of 18.35%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Hawkins will post 4 earnings per share for the current year.

Hawkins Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend 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 (DPR) is currently 18.72%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hawkins

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Hawkins by 31.5% during the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 599,015 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $63,448,000 after buying an additional 143,425 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Hawkins by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 478,348 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $67,981,000 after buying an additional 5,110 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its position in Hawkins by 35.1% during the 2nd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 473,752 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $67,320,000 after purchasing an additional 123,030 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Hawkins by 50.3% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 282,349 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $40,122,000 after acquiring an additional 94,503 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GW&K Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hawkins by 3.2% in the first quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 220,327 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $23,337,000 after acquiring an additional 6,832 shares in the last quarter. 69.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hawkins Company 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.

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