Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN) Sets New 12-Month High - Here's What Happened

Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $144.63 and last traded at $142.10, with a volume of 160749 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $143.95.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on HWKN. Wall Street Zen raised Hawkins from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, June 21st. BWS Financial reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $160.00 price objective on shares of Hawkins in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, CJS Securities initiated coverage on shares of Hawkins in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a "market outperform" rating and a $125.00 target price for the company.

Hawkins Stock Up 1.2%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 2.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.73, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.85. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $130.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $118.98.

Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 14th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $245.32 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $230.69 million. Hawkins had a return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 8.66%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Hawkins, Inc. will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hawkins Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 30th. Hawkins's dividend payout ratio is currently 17.82%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its holdings in Hawkins by 31.5% in the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 599,015 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $63,448,000 after purchasing an additional 143,425 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its stake in Hawkins by 37.6% in the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP purchased a new position in Hawkins during the 4th quarter valued at about $42,466,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Hawkins by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 235,096 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $28,839,000 after acquiring an additional 32,670 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GW&K Investment Management LLC raised its position in 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 acquiring an additional 6,832 shares during the last quarter. 69.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.