Zacks Research Upgrades Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN) to “Hold”

Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN) was upgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday, Zacks reports.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on HWKN. BWS Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Hawkins in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays set a $157.00 price target on shares of Hawkins and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Hawkins from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, September 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $178.50.

Hawkins Stock Performance

Shares of HWKN stock opened at $153.73 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $128.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $143.15. Hawkins has a 52 week low of $116.04 and a 52 week high of $174.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.20 billion, a PE ratio of 37.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.74.

Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 26th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.15. Hawkins had a return on equity of 15.97% and a net margin of 7.53%. The business had revenue of $313.82 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $302.70 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Hawkins will post 4.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hawkins news, VP Douglas A. Lange bought 910 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $118.75 per share, for a total transaction of $108,062.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 28,169 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,345,068.75. This represents a 3.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Jeffrey P. Oldenkamp acquired 1,290 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 27th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $119.00 per share, for a total transaction of $153,510.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 104,223 shares in the company, valued at $12,402,537. The trade was a 1.25% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 3.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HWKN. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Hawkins in the second quarter valued at $449,055,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Hawkins during the second quarter valued at $27,212,000. London Co. of Virginia acquired a new position in shares of Hawkins in the first quarter worth about $26,791,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Hawkins during the 2nd quarter valued at about $20,071,000. Finally, Giverny Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Hawkins during the second quarter worth approximately $13,493,000. 69.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Hawkins

Hawkins, Inc (NASDAQ:HWKN) is a chemical manufacturer, blender and distributor serving customers across the United States. The company supplies a range of water treatment chemicals, industrial chemicals and specialty products to municipal, commercial and industrial users.

Its water treatment business provides chemicals and related solutions used in drinking water, wastewater and industrial water treatment applications. Hawkins also serves the industrial, health and nutrition, and specialty chemical markets, offering products such as chemical blends, custom formulations and other materials used in manufacturing, agriculture, food processing and pharmaceutical applications.

Founded in 1938, Hawkins is headquartered in Roseville, Minnesota, and operates through a network of manufacturing, blending, distribution and sales locations in the United States.