Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 939,000 shares, an increase of 63.8% from the January 31st total of 573,200 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 133,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 7.0 days. Approximately 4.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Institutional Trading of Hawkins

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Hawkins by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,023 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $248,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in Hawkins by 0.7% during the 4th 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. Mariner LLC raised its stake in Hawkins by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 1,956 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $240,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Hawkins by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 5,035 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $618,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Values First Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Hawkins by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. now owns 12,056 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,479,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the period. 69.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hawkins Price Performance

Hawkins stock traded down $3.37 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $101.62. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 136,843 shares, compared to its average volume of 150,276. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.82. Hawkins has a twelve month low of $68.87 and a twelve month high of $139.55. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $114.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $120.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN) last issued its 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%. Research analysts forecast that Hawkins will post 4 earnings per share for the current year.

Hawkins Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. Hawkins’s payout ratio is presently 18.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, BWS Financial restated a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 price objective on shares of Hawkins in a research report on Friday, January 31st.

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.