Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC Invests $562,000 in Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN)

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 4,585 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $562,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Hawkins by 155.4% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 355 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Hawkins during the 4th quarter worth approximately $53,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Hawkins by 262.3% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 442 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Hawkins by 37.0% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 948 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $116,000 after buying an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Defined Financial Planning LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hawkins during the 4th quarter worth approximately $205,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.71% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on HWKN. BWS Financial raised Hawkins from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $160.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. CJS Securities began coverage on Hawkins in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a "market outperform" rating and a $125.00 price objective on the stock.

Hawkins Stock Down 0.8 %

HWKN traded down $0.99 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $124.50. 111,616 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 122,898. Hawkins, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $71.98 and a fifty-two week high of $139.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 2.50 and a quick ratio of 1.53. The company has a market cap of $2.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.76, a PEG ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.82. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $109.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $117.60.

Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN - Get Free Report) last announced 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 net margin of 8.60% and a return on equity of 18.95%. As a group, analysts forecast that Hawkins, Inc. will post 4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hawkins Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Hawkins's dividend payout ratio is presently 18.37%.

Hawkins 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.