Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN) Trading Down 6.4% – Should You Sell?

Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN)’s stock price was down 6.4% on Monday . The company traded as low as $151.02 and last traded at $151.29. 69,044 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 57% from the average session volume of 159,562 shares. The stock had previously closed at $161.59.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on HWKN. BWS Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Hawkins in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Hawkins from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.00.

Hawkins Stock Down 12.5%

The firm has a market cap of $2.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.76. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $160.18 and a 200-day moving average of $151.22. The company has a current ratio of 2.21, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN) last issued 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). Hawkins had a return on equity of 16.08% and a net margin of 7.53%.The company had revenue of $265.91 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $255.28 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Hawkins, Inc. will post 4.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hawkins Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Values First Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Hawkins by 0.8% in the first quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. now owns 9,855 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,514,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Hawkins by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 1,852 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $263,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Hawkins by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 15,090 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,144,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Hawkins by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 3,815 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $542,000 after buying an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd increased its position in Hawkins by 62.2% in the 3rd quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 300 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the period. 69.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Hawkins

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.