Raymond James Financial Initiates Coverage on Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN)

Equities research analysts at Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN - Get Free Report) in a report issued on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm set a "market perform" rating on the specialty chemicals company's stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on HWKN. Wall Street Zen downgraded Hawkins from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 5th. BWS Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $160.00 target price on shares of Hawkins in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, CJS Securities started coverage on Hawkins in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a "market outperform" rating and a $125.00 price objective for the company.

Hawkins Stock Performance

NASDAQ HWKN traded down $4.14 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $155.52. The stock had a trading volume of 161,731 shares, compared to its average volume of 142,204. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 2.15. Hawkins has a 52-week low of $98.30 and a 52-week high of $165.87. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $140.60 and a 200 day moving average of $122.16. The stock has a market cap of $3.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.85.

Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 14th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. Hawkins had a return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 8.66%. The business had revenue of $245.32 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $230.69 million. Sell-side analysts predict that Hawkins will post 4 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Hawkins by 31.5% in the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 599,015 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $63,448,000 after purchasing an additional 143,425 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Hawkins by 35.1% in the second quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 473,752 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $67,320,000 after purchasing an additional 123,030 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of Hawkins in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,466,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Hawkins by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 235,096 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $28,839,000 after acquiring an additional 32,670 shares during the period. Finally, GW&K Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Hawkins by 3.2% during the first quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 220,327 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $23,337,000 after acquiring an additional 6,832 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.71% of the company's stock.

Hawkins Company Profile

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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