Wasatch Advisors LP Purchases New Shares in Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN)

Wasatch Advisors LP bought a new position in shares of Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 346,178 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $42,466,000. Wasatch Advisors LP owned about 1.65% of Hawkins at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of HWKN. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Hawkins by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,023 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $248,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Mariner LLC raised its position in shares of Hawkins by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 1,956 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $240,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Hawkins by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. now owns 12,056 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,479,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ellsworth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Hawkins by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 7,747 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $950,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 69.71% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Hawkins Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ HWKN traded up $1.87 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $121.80. 18,746 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 122,350. Hawkins, Inc. has a one year low of $71.98 and a one year high of $139.55. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $108.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $117.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a current ratio of 2.50. The company has a market cap of $2.55 billion, a PE ratio of 31.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.82.

Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.72 earnings per share 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%. On average, equities analysts predict that Hawkins, Inc. will post 4 EPS for the current year.

Hawkins Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Hawkins's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.37%.

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.