Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN) Downgraded by BWS Financial to Neutral

BWS Financial lowered shares of Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $122.00 price objective on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

Hawkins Stock Performance

Shares of HWKN stock opened at $126.55 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $2.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.25, a P/E/G ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $123.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $101.14. Hawkins has a one year low of $53.64 and a one year high of $135.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.27 and a quick ratio of 1.44.

Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.37. Hawkins had a net margin of 8.75% and a return on equity of 20.16%. The business had revenue of $255.88 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $254.30 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that Hawkins will post 4.14 EPS for the current year.

Hawkins Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This is a positive change from Hawkins’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Hawkins’s payout ratio is presently 20.06%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hawkins

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Hawkins by 116.9% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 104,537 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $8,049,000 after purchasing an additional 56,330 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Hawkins during the first quarter worth approximately $31,504,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its position in Hawkins by 83.9% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 14,521 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,115,000 after acquiring an additional 6,627 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Hawkins by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,516,717 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $106,807,000 after acquiring an additional 62,224 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of Hawkins by 21.6% in the first 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.71% of the company’s stock.

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.