Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN) Upgraded at BWS Financial

BWS Financial upgraded shares of Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Monday morning, MarketBeat reports. BWS Financial currently has $160.00 target price on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

Separately, CJS Securities initiated coverage on shares of Hawkins in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a “market outperform” rating and a $125.00 target price for the company.

Hawkins Stock Performance

Hawkins stock opened at $123.83 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $107.79 and its 200 day moving average is $117.75. The company has a market capitalization of $2.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.59, a PEG ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.82. Hawkins has a twelve month low of $71.98 and a twelve month high of $139.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.77 by ($0.05). Hawkins had a net margin of 8.60% and a return on equity of 18.95%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Hawkins will post 4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hawkins Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Hawkins’s payout ratio is 18.37%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HWKN. Jane Street Group LLC raised its position in Hawkins by 127.3% in the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 47,432 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $6,046,000 after buying an additional 26,568 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Hawkins by 180.1% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 39,728 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $5,064,000 after acquiring an additional 25,545 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Hawkins by 5.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 755,995 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $96,367,000 after purchasing an additional 38,877 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Hawkins by 487.7% during the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 254,837 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $31,260,000 after purchasing an additional 211,472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Hawkins during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,984,000. 69.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Hawkins

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.