Hawkins, Inc. $HWKN Shares Sold by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. trimmed its holdings in Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN) by 17.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 101,291 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 20,725 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Hawkins were worth $18,508,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in Hawkins by 137.5% during the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 16,302 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,979,000 after buying an additional 9,439 shares in the last quarter. Callan Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hawkins during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,568,000. Montanaro Asset Management Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Hawkins by 294.0% during the 2nd quarter. Montanaro Asset Management Ltd now owns 59,100 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $8,398,000 after acquiring an additional 44,100 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Hawkins by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 113,371 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $20,715,000 after acquiring an additional 12,767 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Neuberger Berman Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hawkins during the second quarter worth $4,594,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.71% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director James A. Faulconbridge bought 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $129.29 per share, with a total value of $193,935.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 50,907 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,581,766.03. This trade represents a 3.04% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 4.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings lowered Hawkins from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Hawkins from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 2nd. Finally, BWS Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Hawkins in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hawkins has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $162.50.

Hawkins Stock Performance

Shares of HWKN opened at $147.24 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.08 billion, a PE ratio of 37.28, a PEG ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 2.35. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $146.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $152.61. Hawkins, Inc. has a 52 week low of $98.30 and a 52 week high of $186.15.

Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by ($0.03). Hawkins had a net margin of 7.75% and a return on equity of 16.85%. The company had revenue of $244.08 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $252.51 million. Research analysts expect that Hawkins, Inc. will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hawkins Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 13th were paid a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 13th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Hawkins’s payout ratio is 19.24%.

Hawkins 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.