Short Interest in Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN) Increases By 6.7%

Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 573,200 shares, an increase of 6.7% from the January 15th total of 537,000 shares. Currently, 3.0% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 139,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.1 days.

Hawkins Trading Up 1.1 %

Hawkins stock traded up $1.21 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $111.60. The company had a trading volume of 75,759 shares, compared to its average volume of 161,428. The firm has a market cap of $2.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $117.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $121.57. Hawkins has a 1 year low of $67.52 and a 1 year high of $139.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a current ratio of 2.50.

Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.77 by ($0.05). Hawkins had a return on equity of 18.95% and a net margin of 8.60%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Hawkins will post 4.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Hawkins Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Hawkins’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.37%.

Institutional Trading of Hawkins

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Hawkins by 8,633.3% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 262 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Hawkins by 155.4% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 355 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Hawkins during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Hawkins by 262.3% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 442 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in Hawkins by 289.2% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 467 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. 69.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, BWS Financial reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 target price on shares of Hawkins in a research report on Friday, January 31st.

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.