Swiss National Bank Sells 500 Shares of Hawkins, Inc. $HWKN

Swiss National Bank lowered its stake in shares of Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN) by 1.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,488 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.18% of Hawkins worth $4,077,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its holdings in Hawkins by 118.8% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 280 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Hawkins during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Hawkins during the 4th quarter worth about $53,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Hawkins by 20.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 531 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. grew its holdings in Hawkins by 101.3% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 614 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Hawkins Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of NASDAQ HWKN opened at $167.90 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization 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. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $156.55 and its 200-day moving average is $129.95. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Hawkins, Inc. has a 1 year low of $98.30 and a 1 year high of $185.50.

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

Hawkins Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. This is a positive change from Hawkins’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. Hawkins’s dividend payout ratio is 18.72%.

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.