Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN) Shares Gap Up Following Earnings Beat

Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $119.67, but opened at $125.72. Hawkins shares last traded at $126.99, with a volume of 30,007 shares traded.

The specialty chemicals company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $245.32 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $230.69 million. Hawkins had a return on equity of 18.95% and a net margin of 8.60%.

Hawkins Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. Hawkins’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. CJS Securities assumed coverage on Hawkins in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a “market outperform” rating and a $125.00 price objective on the stock. BWS Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective on shares of Hawkins in a research note on Thursday.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hawkins

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Hawkins by 180.1% during 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 last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL raised its position in shares of Hawkins by 67.3% during the fourth quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 67,038 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $8,224,000 after acquiring an additional 26,970 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its position 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 worth $31,260,000 after acquiring an additional 211,472 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hawkins during the fourth quarter worth $2,984,000. Finally, Cynosure Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hawkins during the fourth quarter worth $299,000. Institutional investors own 69.71% of the company’s stock.

Hawkins Stock Up 3.2%

The business has a fifty day moving average of $114.35 and a 200 day moving average of $117.07. The firm has a market cap of $2.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.30, a P/E/G ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.87. 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 Company Profile

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.