Hawkins (HWKN) Competitors

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) and Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN) are both basic materials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, media sentiment, earnings, dividends, profitability, community ranking and risk.

Is WLK or HWKN a better dividend stock?

Westlake pays an annual dividend of $2.10 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. Hawkins pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. Westlake pays out 70.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Hawkins pays out 17.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Westlake has increased its dividend for 21 consecutive years and Hawkins has increased its dividend for 20 consecutive years. Westlake is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Do insiders and institutionals believe in WLK or HWKN?

28.4% of Westlake shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 69.7% of Hawkins shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.3% of Westlake shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.8% of Hawkins shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Do analysts rate WLK or HWKN?

Westlake presently has a consensus price target of $89.85, suggesting a potential upside of 12.15%. Hawkins has a consensus price target of $142.50, suggesting a potential upside of 5.66%. Given Westlake's higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Westlake is more favorable than Hawkins.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Westlake	0 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.54
Hawkins	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Which has more risk & volatility, WLK or HWKN?

Westlake has a beta of 0.91, suggesting that its stock price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hawkins has a beta of 0.85, suggesting that its stock price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is WLK or HWKN more profitable?

Hawkins has a net margin of 8.60% compared to Westlake's net margin of 0.81%. Hawkins' return on equity of 18.95% beat Westlake's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Westlake	0.81%	6.93%	3.61%
Hawkins	8.60%	18.95%	11.87%

Does the MarketBeat Community favor WLK or HWKN?

Westlake received 265 more outperform votes than Hawkins when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 59.08% of users gave Hawkins an outperform vote while only 56.96% of users gave Westlake an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Westlake	Outperform Votes 483 56.96%	Underperform Votes 365 43.04%
Hawkins	Outperform Votes 218 59.08%	Underperform Votes 151 40.92%

Which has stronger earnings and valuation, WLK or HWKN?

Westlake has higher revenue and earnings than Hawkins. Westlake is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Hawkins, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Westlake	$12.01B	0.86	$479M	$2.98	26.88
Hawkins	$974.43M	2.88	$75.36M	$4.04	33.38

Does the media refer more to WLK or HWKN?

In the previous week, Hawkins had 2 more articles in the media than Westlake. MarketBeat recorded 7 mentions for Hawkins and 5 mentions for Westlake. Hawkins' average media sentiment score of 0.93 beat Westlake's score of 0.67 indicating that Hawkins is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Westlake	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Hawkins	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

Hawkins beats Westlake on 12 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.