Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Has $54.47 Million Position in Hawkins, Inc. $HWKN

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN) by 7.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 383,427 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 25,495 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. owned approximately 1.84% of Hawkins worth $54,470,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Hawkins by 618.8% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 355,619 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $64,979,000 after purchasing an additional 306,143 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Hawkins by 44.4% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 407,793 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $74,512,000 after buying an additional 125,444 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its stake in Hawkins by 130.7% in the second quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 149,397 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $21,229,000 after buying an additional 84,651 shares during the period. Granite Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Hawkins during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $11,610,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Hawkins by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,504,831 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $274,963,000 after buying an additional 41,652 shares during the period. 69.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HWKN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Hawkins from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Zacks Research raised shares of Hawkins from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 2nd. Finally, BWS Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Hawkins in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $162.50.

Hawkins Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:HWKN opened at $151.62 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 2.35. Hawkins, Inc. has a 52-week low of $101.72 and a 52-week high of $186.15. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $144.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $149.17. The firm has a market cap of $3.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.38, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.82.

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

Hawkins Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Hawkins

In other Hawkins news, Director James A. Faulconbridge acquired 1,500 shares of Hawkins stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $129.29 per share, for a total transaction of $193,935.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 50,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,581,766.03. This represents a 3.04% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Hawkins Company 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.