Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN) Cut to "Hold" at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Saturday.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on HWKN. BWS Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $160.00 price target on shares of Hawkins in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. CJS Securities initiated coverage on Hawkins in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a "market outperform" rating and a $125.00 price target on the stock.

Hawkins Stock Performance

NASDAQ HWKN traded down $1.32 during trading on Friday, hitting $132.69. 117,202 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 125,193. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.85, a PEG ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.87. Hawkins has a 12-month low of $83.88 and a 12-month high of $139.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a current ratio of 2.50. The business has a 50 day moving average of $118.52 and a 200-day moving average of $117.93.

Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 18.95% and a net margin of 8.60%. The firm had revenue of $245.32 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $230.69 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Hawkins will post 4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hawkins Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Hawkins's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.82%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its position in shares of Hawkins by 533.3% in the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 266 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its position in shares of Hawkins by 118.8% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 280 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Hawkins in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in Hawkins during the first quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Hawkins by 155.4% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 355 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. 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.