Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN) Receives Average Recommendation of "Hold" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts give Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN) a consensus recommendation of Hold from five firms (three holds, two buys) with an average 12‑month price target of $162.50; recent notes include a Zacks upgrade and mixed revisions from Weiss and BWS.
• Hawkins missed the latest quarter—EPS $0.72 vs. $0.75 expected and revenue $244.08M vs. $252.51M—while the company has a $3.16B market cap and a PE of 38.31.
• The company pays a $0.19 quarterly dividend (annualized $0.76, yield 0.5%, payout ratio ~19.2%), and Director James Faulconbridge recently bought 1,500 shares at about $129.29, with insiders owning 4.10% of the stock.

Shares of Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN - Get Free Report) have received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the five research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $162.50.

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on HWKN shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Hawkins from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 2nd. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Hawkins from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Finally, BWS Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Hawkins in a report on Monday.

Hawkins Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HWKN opened at $151.34 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 1.46. Hawkins has a 1 year low of $101.72 and a 1 year high of $186.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.16 billion, a PE ratio of 38.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.82. The business's 50 day moving average price is $144.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $149.82.

Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.75 by ($0.03). Hawkins had a net margin of 7.75% and a return on equity of 16.85%. The firm had revenue of $244.08 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $252.51 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Hawkins will post 4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hawkins Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th were given a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 13th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Hawkins's dividend payout ratio is 19.24%.

Insider Activity at Hawkins

In related news, Director James A. Faulconbridge acquired 1,500 shares of Hawkins stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $129.29 per share, for a total transaction of $193,935.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 50,907 shares in the company, valued at $6,581,766.03. This represents a 3.04% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 4.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Hawkins

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HWKN. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hawkins during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hawkins in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. First Horizon Corp acquired a new stake in Hawkins during the third quarter worth about $34,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Hawkins during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Simplex Trading LLC raised its stake in Hawkins by 246.0% during the fourth quarter. Simplex Trading LLC now owns 346 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the period. 69.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Hawkins

Hawkins, Inc NASDAQ: HWKN is a specialty chemical company that produces and distributes water-treatment and industrial chemicals across North America. Founded in 1938 and headquartered in Roseville, Minnesota, the company has built a network of manufacturing facilities and distribution centers that serve municipal, industrial and commercial customers. As a publicly traded entity, Hawkins leverages its long-standing presence in the chemical distribution industry to provide tailored solutions for complex water-treatment challenges and specialty chemical needs.

Hawkins' product portfolio encompasses a wide range of chemicals, including sodium hypochlorite, sodium hydroxide, hydrogen peroxide, chlorine, acids and specialty blends.

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