Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN) Holdings Reduced by Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lessened its holdings in shares of Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN) by 8.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,890 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 513 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Hawkins were worth $624,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its holdings in Hawkins by 37.6% in the 1st quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 350,722 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $37,148,000 after buying an additional 95,885 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP bought a new position in shares of Hawkins in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,466,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Hawkins by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 235,096 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $28,839,000 after acquiring an additional 32,670 shares in the last quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hawkins by 3.2% in the first quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 220,327 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $23,337,000 after acquiring an additional 6,832 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Hawkins by 61.9% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 149,616 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $18,353,000 after acquiring an additional 57,179 shares in the last quarter. 69.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hawkins Trading Up 1.0%

Hawkins stock opened at $170.57 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a current ratio of 2.31. The firm has a market cap of $3.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.81. Hawkins, Inc. has a 1 year low of $98.30 and a 1 year high of $171.67. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $148.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $125.76.

Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $293.27 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $278.76 million. Hawkins had a net margin of 8.37% and a return on equity of 18.35%. On average, research analysts predict that Hawkins, Inc. will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hawkins Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This is a positive change from Hawkins’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. Hawkins’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HWKN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of Hawkins in a report on Thursday, July 24th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. BWS Financial lifted their price target on shares of Hawkins from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Hawkins from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 5th.

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.