Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN) Short Interest Update

Key Points

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Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN - Get Free Report) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totaling 1,020,000 shares, agrowthof43.4% from the July 15th total of 711,200 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 179,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.7 days. Currently,5.3% of the company's shares are short sold. Currently,5.3% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 179,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.7 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HWKN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Zacks Research raised shares of Hawkins to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Hawkins from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 5th. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of Hawkins in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. They set a "market perform" rating for the company. Finally, BWS Financial increased their target price 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $162.50.

Hawkins Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of Hawkins stock traded up $1.94 on Friday, reaching $170.03. 166,756 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 211,551. The company has a market capitalization of $3.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.81. Hawkins has a 52 week low of $98.30 and a 52 week high of $185.50. The firm's 50-day moving average is $157.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $130.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a current ratio of 2.31.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.07. The firm 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Hawkins will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hawkins Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis 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 18.72%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hawkins

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of HWKN. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its holdings in shares of Hawkins by 56.9% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 9,605 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $1,178,000 after purchasing an additional 3,485 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Hawkins by 88.5% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 13,377 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $1,641,000 after purchasing an additional 6,280 shares in the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Hawkins by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,023 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $248,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hawkins by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 41,722 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $5,118,000 after purchasing an additional 1,994 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mariner LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hawkins by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 1,956 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $240,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. 69.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.