Legal & General Group Plc Purchases Shares of 46,948 Hawkins, Inc. $HWKN

Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 46,948 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,671,000. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.22% of Hawkins at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Hawkins in the 2nd quarter valued at about $449,055,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Hawkins during the second quarter worth approximately $27,212,000. London Co. of Virginia bought a new stake in Hawkins in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,791,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Hawkins in the second quarter valued at approximately $20,071,000. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Hawkins by 31.4% in the fourth quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 552,419 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $78,477,000 after buying an additional 131,850 shares during the last quarter. 69.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on HWKN. Weiss Ratings downgraded Hawkins from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. BWS Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Hawkins in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Zacks Research cut shares of Hawkins from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Barclays set a $142.00 price objective on shares of Hawkins and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hawkins has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $171.00.

Hawkins Price Performance

Hawkins stock opened at $126.37 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.74, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 2.27, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Hawkins, Inc. has a 12 month low of $116.04 and a 12 month high of $186.15. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $133.70 and its 200-day moving average is $146.77.

Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.39 by ($0.04). Hawkins had a return on equity of 15.42% and a net margin of 7.29%.The firm had revenue of $315.68 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $313.42 million. Equities research analysts expect that Hawkins, Inc. will post 4.1 EPS for the current year.

Hawkins Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th were given a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 14th. Hawkins’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.73%.

Insider Activity

In other Hawkins news, VP Douglas A. Lange bought 910 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $118.75 per share, for a total transaction of $108,062.50. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 28,169 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,345,068.75. This trade represents a 3.34% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Jeffrey P. Oldenkamp purchased 1,290 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 27th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $119.00 per share, with a total value of $153,510.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 104,223 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,402,537. This represents a 1.25% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 3.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.