Hawkins, Inc. $HWKN Shares Sold by MetLife Investment Management LLC

MetLife Investment Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN) by 1.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,630 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 187 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Hawkins worth $1,232,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its holdings in Hawkins by 533.3% during the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 266 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its holdings in Hawkins by 118.8% during the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 280 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the period. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Hawkins during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in Hawkins during the first quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. acquired a new position in Hawkins during the first quarter worth about $52,000. 69.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on HWKN. Wall Street Zen lowered Hawkins from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 5th. BWS Financial increased their price target on Hawkins from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on Hawkins in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Hawkins to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $162.50.

Hawkins Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ HWKN opened at $168.69 on Friday. Hawkins, Inc. has a one year low of $98.30 and a one year high of $185.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.52 billion, a PE ratio of 41.55, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $163.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $134.26.

Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.07. Hawkins had a return on equity of 18.35% and a net margin of 8.37%.The firm had revenue of $293.27 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $278.76 million. As a group, analysts predict that Hawkins, Inc. will post 4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hawkins Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were given a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. This is a boost from Hawkins’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. Hawkins’s dividend payout ratio is 18.72%.

Hawkins 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.