Granite Investment Partners LLC Has $11.29 Million Position in Hawkins, Inc. $HWKN

Granite Investment Partners LLC cut its position in shares of Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN) by 5.8% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 73,480 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 4,488 shares during the period. Granite Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Hawkins were worth $11,287,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Hawkins by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,525,789 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $216,754,000 after acquiring an additional 20,958 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Hawkins by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,067,451 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $151,642,000 after acquiring an additional 111,318 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Hawkins by 31.4% during the 4th quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 552,419 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $78,477,000 after acquiring an additional 131,850 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hawkins by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 513,535 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $72,965,000 after purchasing an additional 13,828 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Hawkins by 34.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 477,985 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $67,903,000 after purchasing an additional 122,366 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.71% of the company’s stock.

Hawkins Trading Down 2.9%

Shares of Hawkins stock opened at $132.30 on Thursday. Hawkins, Inc. has a 12-month low of $117.98 and a 12-month high of $186.15. The stock has a market cap of $2.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 2.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The business’s 50 day moving average is $156.43 and its 200-day moving average is $150.99.

Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 13th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.02). Hawkins had a net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 16.08%. The company had revenue of $265.91 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $255.28 million. Equities research analysts predict that Hawkins, Inc. will post 4.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hawkins Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th were paid a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 29th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Hawkins’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.44%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HWKN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays set a $170.00 target price on shares of Hawkins and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. BWS Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Hawkins in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Hawkins from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hawkins presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $185.00.

About Hawkins

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.