Rice Hall James & Associates LLC Makes New Investment in Hawkins, Inc. $HWKN

Rice Hall James & Associates LLC acquired a new position in Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 21,643 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,075,000. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC owned approximately 0.10% of Hawkins at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in HWKN. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hawkins during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC bought a new stake in Hawkins in the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. Simplex Trading LLC lifted its stake in Hawkins by 246.0% in the fourth quarter. Simplex Trading LLC now owns 346 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new position in shares of Hawkins during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $79,000. Finally, iSAM Funds UK Ltd bought a new position in shares of Hawkins during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $102,000. 69.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hawkins Stock Performance

NASDAQ HWKN opened at $131.57 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $2.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.09, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $143.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $148.15. The company has a current ratio of 2.27, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Hawkins, Inc. has a 12-month low of $117.98 and a 12-month high of $186.15.

Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.39 by ($0.04). Hawkins had a return on equity of 15.42% and a net margin of 7.29%.The business had revenue of $315.68 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $313.42 million. Sell-side analysts predict that Hawkins, Inc. will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hawkins Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. Hawkins’s payout ratio is presently 20.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HWKN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Zacks Research lowered shares of Hawkins from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Hawkins from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. BWS Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Hawkins in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Barclays set a $142.00 price objective on shares of Hawkins and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $171.00.

Hawkins Profile

Hawkins, Inc (NASDAQ: HWKN) is a specialty chemical company that produces and distributes water-treatment and industrial chemicals across North America. Founded in 1938 and headquartered in Roseville, Minnesota, the company has built a network of manufacturing facilities and distribution centers that serve municipal, industrial and commercial customers. As a publicly traded entity, Hawkins leverages its long-standing presence in the chemical distribution industry to provide tailored solutions for complex water-treatment challenges and specialty chemical needs.

Hawkins’ product portfolio encompasses a wide range of chemicals, including sodium hypochlorite, sodium hydroxide, hydrogen peroxide, chlorine, acids and specialty blends.