Capital World Investors Boosts Position in Hawkins, Inc. $HWKN

Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN) by 34.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 477,985 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 122,366 shares during the quarter. Capital World Investors’ holdings in Hawkins were worth $67,903,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of HWKN. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Hawkins during the 4th quarter worth approximately $19,098,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Hawkins by 44.4% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 407,793 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $74,512,000 after buying an additional 125,444 shares during the last quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Hawkins during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $11,610,000. Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc. raised its position in Hawkins by 18.8% during the 4th quarter. Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc. now owns 364,970 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $51,848,000 after buying an additional 57,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Hawkins by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,504,831 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $274,963,000 after buying an additional 41,652 shares during the last quarter. 69.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hawkins Price Performance

NASDAQ:HWKN opened at $155.60 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 2.21 and a quick ratio of 1.46. The firm has a market cap of $3.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $157.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $148.56. Hawkins, Inc. has a 1-year low of $117.98 and a 1-year high of $186.15.

Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN) last posted its 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). The firm had revenue of $265.91 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $255.28 million. Hawkins had a net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 16.08%. Equities research analysts forecast that Hawkins, Inc. will post 4.27 EPS for the current year.

Hawkins Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. Hawkins’s payout ratio is 19.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on HWKN. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Hawkins from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday. BWS Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Hawkins in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hawkins presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $200.00.

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.