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

Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 665,400 shares, an increase of 63.5% from the October 31st total of 407,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 119,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.6 days. Currently, 3.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Hawkins Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ HWKN traded up $1.12 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $134.51. The company's stock had a trading volume of 55,424 shares, compared to its average volume of 127,887. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $124.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $110.17. Hawkins has a one year low of $54.44 and a one year high of $138.86. The stock has a market cap of $2.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.63 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 2.27 and a quick ratio of 1.39.

Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.18 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $247.03 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $259.59 million. Hawkins had a net margin of 8.74% and a return on equity of 19.64%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Hawkins will post 4.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hawkins Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. Hawkins's payout ratio is 18.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, BWS Financial restated a "neutral" rating and set a $122.00 price target on shares of Hawkins in a research note on Thursday, October 31st.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Hawkins by 1.3% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 52,985 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $4,070,000 after purchasing an additional 693 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its holdings in shares of Hawkins by 7,343.9% in the 1st quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 22,555 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $1,732,000 after buying an additional 22,252 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in Hawkins by 21.6% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 43,243 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $3,320,000 after purchasing an additional 7,683 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its position in shares of Hawkins by 28.1% in the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 11,934 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $915,000 after purchasing an additional 2,618 shares during the period. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Hawkins during the first quarter valued at approximately $31,504,000. Institutional investors own 69.71% of the company's stock.

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.