Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN) Sets New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $140.90 and last traded at $141.12, with a volume of 45010 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $137.28.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HWKN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. 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. CJS Securities began coverage on Hawkins in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a “market outperform” rating and a $125.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Hawkins from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday.

Hawkins Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $2.92 billion, a PE ratio of 34.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The business’s fifty day moving average is $127.29 and its 200-day moving average is $118.27.

Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 14th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. Hawkins had a return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 8.66%. The firm had revenue of $245.32 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $230.69 million. As a group, research analysts predict that Hawkins, Inc. will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hawkins Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th were given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 30th. Hawkins’s payout ratio is 17.82%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Hawkins by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 13,527 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,659,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Hawkins by 155.4% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 355 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its stake in Hawkins by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 16,620 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,039,000 after buying an additional 768 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Hawkins by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 99,420 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $12,196,000 after acquiring an additional 3,436 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB purchased a new position in shares of Hawkins in the fourth quarter valued at about $613,000. 69.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.