Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN) Shares Bought by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN - Free Report) by 61.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 149,616 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after buying an additional 57,179 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 0.71% of Hawkins worth $18,353,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of HWKN. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Hawkins by 155.4% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 355 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hawkins by 262.3% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 442 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hawkins by 242.5% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 459 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Hawkins by 37.0% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 948 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $116,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Longboard Asset Management LP bought a new position in Hawkins during the fourth quarter valued at $212,000. Institutional investors own 69.71% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on HWKN. CJS Securities assumed coverage on 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 upgraded Hawkins from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $160.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday.

Hawkins Stock Performance

NASDAQ HWKN traded up $0.68 on Thursday, reaching $121.90. 15,075 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 132,786. Hawkins, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $71.98 and a fifty-two week 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 firm has a market cap of $2.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.82. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $108.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $117.80.

Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by ($0.05). Hawkins had a return on equity of 18.95% and a net margin of 8.60%. Equities research analysts predict that Hawkins, Inc. will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hawkins Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.59%. Hawkins's payout ratio is 18.37%.

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.