Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN) Shares Sold by Bailard Inc.

Bailard Inc. reduced its position in Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN) by 14.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,500 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 600 shares during the quarter. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Hawkins were worth $246,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB purchased a new stake in Hawkins during the 4th quarter worth $3,402,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hawkins by 200.3% during the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 21,929 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,290,000 after acquiring an additional 14,626 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new position in shares of Hawkins during the third quarter worth about $557,000. Values First Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Hawkins by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. now owns 11,863 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $835,000 after acquiring an additional 847 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hawkins in the 4th quarter worth about $7,093,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Hawkins from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th.

Hawkins Stock Up 3.2 %

HWKN opened at $78.23 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $74.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $67.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 2.45 and a quick ratio of 1.58. The stock has a market cap of $1.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.48 and a beta of 0.75. Hawkins, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.20 and a 12 month high of $79.30.

Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.10. Hawkins had a return on equity of 19.54% and a net margin of 7.91%. The company had revenue of $208.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $221.24 million. As a group, research analysts predict that Hawkins, Inc. will post 3.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Hawkins Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 16th were paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. Hawkins’s payout ratio is 18.39%.

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.