Royce & Associates LP Reduces Stake in Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN)

Royce & Associates LP reduced its position in Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN) by 10.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 106,027 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 11,758 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in Hawkins were worth $13,006,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of HWKN. 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 valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Hawkins by 155.4% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 355 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Hawkins by 262.3% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 442 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Hawkins by 242.5% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 459 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Hawkins by 37.0% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 948 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $116,000 after buying an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.71% of the company’s stock.

Hawkins Price Performance

HWKN stock opened at $106.79 on Tuesday. Hawkins, Inc. has a 52-week low of $71.20 and a 52-week high of $139.55. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $110.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $119.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.77.

Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN) last posted 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Hawkins, Inc. will post 4 EPS for the current year.

Hawkins Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Hawkins’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.37%.

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 report on Friday, January 31st.

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.