The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Makes New Investment in Hawkins, Inc. $HWKN

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new stake in Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 9,867 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,402,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of HWKN. Values First Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Hawkins by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. now owns 9,855 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,514,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp increased its stake in Hawkins by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 1,852 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $263,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in Hawkins by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 3,815 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $542,000 after buying an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Hawkins by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 13,618 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,935,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hawkins by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 2,371 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $364,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. 69.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Jeffrey P. Oldenkamp acquired 1,290 shares of Hawkins stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 27th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $119.00 per share, with a total value of $153,510.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer owned 104,223 shares in the company, valued at $12,402,537. This trade represents a 1.25% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Douglas A. Lange bought 910 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $118.75 per share, with a total value of $108,062.50. Following the purchase, the vice president directly owned 28,169 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,345,068.75. This trade represents a 3.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research downgraded Hawkins from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. BWS Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Hawkins in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Hawkins from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, Barclays set a $142.00 price target on Hawkins and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $171.00.

Hawkins Stock Performance

NASDAQ HWKN opened at $129.33 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.70 billion, a PE ratio of 33.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 2.27. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $132.97 and a 200-day moving average of $146.65. Hawkins, Inc. has a 52-week low of $116.04 and a 52-week high of $186.15.

Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $315.68 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $313.42 million. Hawkins had a return on equity of 15.42% and a net margin of 7.29%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Hawkins, Inc. will post 4.1 EPS for the current year.

Hawkins Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th were paid a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 14th. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Hawkins’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.73%.

Hawkins 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.