Hawkins, Inc. $HWKN Shares Sold by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. cut its holdings in Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN) by 2.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 232,751 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 5,749 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 1.11% of Hawkins worth $24,653,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Hawkins by 2.4% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 101,785 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $10,781,000 after acquiring an additional 2,365 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Hawkins by 157,110.0% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 94,326 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $9,991,000 after acquiring an additional 94,266 shares during the last quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Hawkins by 111.1% in the first quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,289 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $984,000 after acquiring an additional 4,888 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Hawkins by 2.9% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 45,599 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $4,942,000 after acquiring an additional 1,298 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in Hawkins in the first quarter valued at approximately $244,000. 69.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HWKN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut Hawkins from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 5th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Hawkins to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. BWS Financial lifted their target price on shares of Hawkins from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Raymond James Financial began coverage on shares of Hawkins in a report on Thursday, July 24th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hawkins has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $162.50.

Hawkins Price Performance

Hawkins stock opened at $167.90 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $3.51 billion, a PE ratio of 41.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.81. Hawkins, Inc. has a 52-week low of $98.30 and a 52-week high of $185.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company’s 50 day moving average is $156.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $129.95.

Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.07. The company 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 expect that Hawkins, Inc. will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hawkins Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.19 per share. This is a boost from Hawkins’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Hawkins’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.72%.

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.