Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN) Earns Hold Rating from Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN – Get Rating) in a research report released on Thursday morning. The firm issued a hold rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

Hawkins Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HWKN traded down $1.02 during trading on Thursday, reaching $41.64. 680,926 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 67,617. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm has a market cap of $876.52 million, a PE ratio of 14.82 and a beta of 0.82. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $40.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.28. Hawkins has a 12 month low of $33.31 and a 12 month high of $48.12.

Hawkins Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, February 17th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This is a boost from Hawkins’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 16th. Hawkins’s payout ratio is 21.35%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hawkins

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HWKN. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Hawkins by 122.1% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 322,493 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $12,448,000 after buying an additional 177,318 shares during the period. Eaton Vance Management boosted its stake in shares of Hawkins by 26,066.9% in the first quarter. Eaton Vance Management now owns 167,730 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $7,699,000 after buying an additional 167,089 shares during the period. GW&K Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hawkins by 94.6% in the fourth quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 266,092 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $10,271,000 after buying an additional 129,341 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hawkins by 27.6% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 144,998 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $6,655,000 after buying an additional 31,400 shares during the period. Finally, Citadel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Hawkins by 239.0% during the third quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 30,084 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,173,000 after purchasing an additional 21,210 shares during the last quarter. 59.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Hawkins Company Profile

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Hawkins, Inc engages in the distribution, blending, and manufacture of chemicals and specialty ingredients for a wide variety of industries. It operates through the following segments: Industrial, Water Treatment, and Health and Nutrition. The Industrial segment provides industrial chemicals, products, and services to the agriculture, chemical processing, electronics, energy, food, pharmaceutical, and plating industries.