Hawkins (HWKN) Competitors

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

Do analysts prefer HWKN or WLK?

Hawkins currently has a consensus target price of $162.50, suggesting a potential downside of 3.32%. Westlake has a consensus target price of $91.64, suggesting a potential upside of 20.60%. Given Westlake's higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Westlake is more favorable than Hawkins.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Hawkins	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.60
Westlake	1 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Is HWKN or WLK more profitable?

Hawkins has a net margin of 8.37% compared to Westlake's net margin of -0.57%. Hawkins' return on equity of 18.35% beat Westlake's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hawkins	8.37%	18.35%	10.73%
Westlake	-0.57%	1.26%	0.66%

Does the media prefer HWKN or WLK?

In the previous week, Westlake had 4 more articles in the media than Hawkins. MarketBeat recorded 11 mentions for Westlake and 7 mentions for Hawkins. Hawkins' average media sentiment score of 1.06 beat Westlake's score of 0.58 indicating that Hawkins is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Hawkins	3 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Westlake	3 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do institutionals & insiders believe in HWKN or WLK?

69.7% of Hawkins shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 28.4% of Westlake shares are held by institutional investors. 4.1% of Hawkins shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.3% of Westlake shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Is HWKN or WLK a better dividend stock?

Hawkins pays an annual dividend of $0.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. Westlake pays an annual dividend of $2.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Hawkins pays out 18.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Westlake pays out -400.0% 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. Hawkins has increased its dividend for 20 consecutive years and Westlake has increased its dividend for 21 consecutive years. Westlake is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, HWKN or WLK?

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
Hawkins	$974.43M	3.60	$84.35M	$4.06	41.40
Westlake	$12.14B	0.80	$602M	-$0.53	-143.38

Which has more volatility & risk, HWKN or WLK?

Hawkins has a beta of 0.84, indicating that its stock price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Westlake has a beta of 0.93, indicating that its stock price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Hawkins and Westlake tied by winning 10 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.