Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes $1.43 Million Position in Hawkins, Inc. $HWKN

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 9,300 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,428,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Hawkins in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hawkins during the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hawkins in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Simplex Trading LLC grew its position in shares of Hawkins by 246.0% in the 4th quarter. Simplex Trading LLC now owns 346 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the period. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new position in shares of Hawkins in the 3rd quarter worth about $79,000. 69.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Hawkins from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Barclays set a $170.00 target price on shares of Hawkins and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, BWS Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Hawkins in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $185.00.

Hawkins Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ HWKN opened at $138.49 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $158.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $151.20. Hawkins, Inc. has a 52-week low of $117.98 and a 52-week high of $186.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 2.21. The company has a market cap of $2.90 billion, a PE ratio of 35.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.78.

Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.02). Hawkins had a net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 16.08%. The firm had revenue of $265.91 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $255.28 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that Hawkins, Inc. will post 4.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hawkins Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th were issued a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Hawkins’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.44%.

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.