Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to Hold

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday morning.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on HWKN. CJS Securities started coverage on shares of Hawkins in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a "market outperform" rating and a $125.00 price objective for the company. BWS Financial reissued a "buy" rating and set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Hawkins in a report on Thursday, May 15th.

Hawkins Stock Up 1.2%

Hawkins stock traded up $1.83 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $152.43. The stock had a trading volume of 178,542 shares, compared to its average volume of 130,870. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $131.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $119.31. Hawkins has a 12-month low of $89.59 and a 12-month high of $153.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.85.

Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 14th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. Hawkins had a net margin of 8.66% and a return on equity of 18.93%. The firm had revenue of $245.32 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $230.69 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Hawkins will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hawkins Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. Hawkins's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.82%.

Institutional Trading of Hawkins

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HWKN. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in Hawkins by 262.3% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 442 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Hawkins during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,984,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Hawkins in the fourth quarter worth approximately $13,087,000. Amundi bought a new position in shares of Hawkins in the fourth quarter worth approximately $271,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in shares of Hawkins by 14.2% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 6,403 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $785,000 after purchasing an additional 798 shares during the period. 69.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.