Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN) Shares Up 3.8% - Should You Buy?

Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN - Get Free Report)'s stock price rose 3.8% on Friday . The company traded as high as $137.92 and last traded at $138.04. Approximately 39,944 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 68% from the average daily volume of 125,272 shares. The stock had previously closed at $133.05.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HWKN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. 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 price target for the company. BWS Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of Hawkins in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Hawkins from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th.

Hawkins Trading Up 2.0%

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.85. The firm's 50 day moving average is $124.60 and its 200 day moving average is $118.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. Hawkins had a net margin of 8.60% and a return on equity of 18.95%. The business had revenue of $245.32 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $230.69 million. Equities analysts forecast that Hawkins, Inc. will post 4 earnings per share for the current year.

Hawkins Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Hawkins's dividend payout ratio is currently 17.82%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hawkins

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. SkyOak Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hawkins by 3.8% during the first quarter. SkyOak Wealth LLC now owns 2,374 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $251,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Hawkins by 20.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 531 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in Hawkins by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 13,527 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $1,659,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in Hawkins by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 2,976 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $313,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.71% of the company's stock.

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.