Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN) Sets New 1-Year High - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Hawkins, Inc. has reached a new 52-week high stock price of $185.50, closing at $184.19 with a trading volume of 18,364 shares.
• The company reported a Q2 earnings per share (EPS) of $1.40, surpassing analyst expectations of $1.33, and achieved revenue of $293.27 million against an expected $278.76 million.
• Hawkins has increased its quarterly dividend from $0.18 to $0.19 per share, representing an annualized yield of 0.4% and a payout ratio of 18.72%.

Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $185.50 and last traded at $184.19, with a volume of 18364 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $181.93.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on Hawkins in a report on Thursday, July 24th. They set a "market perform" rating for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Hawkins in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Hawkins from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 5th. BWS Financial lifted their price target on Hawkins from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Zacks Research cut Hawkins from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hawkins presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $162.50.

Hawkins Stock Up 0.5%

The firm's 50-day moving average price is $171.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $143.77. The company has a market capitalization of $3.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.04, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.07. Hawkins had a net margin of 8.37% and a return on equity of 18.35%. The company had revenue of $293.27 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $278.76 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Hawkins, Inc. will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hawkins Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This is a positive change from Hawkins's previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Hawkins's payout ratio is presently 18.72%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Hawkins by 31.5% during the first 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 increased its holdings in Hawkins by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 478,348 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $67,981,000 after purchasing an additional 5,110 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its holdings in Hawkins by 35.1% in 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 in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake 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 buying an additional 94,503 shares during the period. Finally, GW&K Investment Management LLC increased its stake 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 buying an additional 6,832 shares during the period. 69.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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