Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN) Cut to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research cut shares of Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on HWKN. BWS Financial boosted their price target on Hawkins from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded Hawkins from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 5th. Finally, Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on Hawkins in a report on Thursday, July 24th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $162.50.

Hawkins Stock Performance

Shares of HWKN stock opened at $168.53 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $3.52 billion, a PE ratio of 41.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.86. 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 has a 12 month low of $98.30 and a 12 month high of $185.50. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $169.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $140.77.

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

Hawkins Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This is an increase from Hawkins’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Hawkins’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.72%.

Institutional Trading of Hawkins

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HWKN. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its holdings in shares of Hawkins by 533.3% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 266 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its position in Hawkins by 118.8% during the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 280 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. bought a new position in Hawkins during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in Hawkins during the first quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. bought a new position in Hawkins during the first quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.71% of the company’s stock.

Hawkins Company 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.