Brokerages Set Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN) PT at $162.50

Shares of Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $162.50.

HWKN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Hawkins from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Hawkins from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 2nd. Finally, BWS Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Hawkins in a research report on Monday, March 23rd.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hawkins

In other news, Director James A. Faulconbridge bought 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $129.29 per share, with a total value of $193,935.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 50,907 shares in the company, valued at $6,581,766.03. This trade represents a 3.04% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hawkins in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hawkins in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. First Horizon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Hawkins in the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Hawkins in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Simplex Trading LLC boosted its stake in Hawkins by 246.0% during the 4th quarter. Simplex Trading LLC now owns 346 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.71% of the company’s stock.

Hawkins Price Performance

HWKN stock opened at $152.12 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $144.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $149.35. The stock has a market cap of $3.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.51, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.82. Hawkins has a fifty-two week low of $101.72 and a fifty-two week high of $186.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.75 by ($0.03). Hawkins had a net margin of 7.75% and a return on equity of 16.85%. The company had revenue of $244.08 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $252.51 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Hawkins will post 4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hawkins Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th were given a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 13th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Hawkins’s payout ratio is 19.24%.

Hawkins Company Profile

Hawkins, Inc (NASDAQ: HWKN) is a specialty chemical company that produces and distributes water-treatment and industrial chemicals across North America. Founded in 1938 and headquartered in Roseville, Minnesota, the company has built a network of manufacturing facilities and distribution centers that serve municipal, industrial and commercial customers. As a publicly traded entity, Hawkins leverages its long-standing presence in the chemical distribution industry to provide tailored solutions for complex water-treatment challenges and specialty chemical needs.

Hawkins’ product portfolio encompasses a wide range of chemicals, including sodium hypochlorite, sodium hydroxide, hydrogen peroxide, chlorine, acids and specialty blends.