Short Interest in Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN) Declines By 10.7%

Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 395,200 shares, a decline of 10.7% from the September 15th total of 442,600 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 131,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.0 days. Currently, 2.1% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Hawkins Stock Performance

Shares of Hawkins stock traded up $1.48 on Wednesday, reaching $134.23. 82,301 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 128,338. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $122.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $100.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.25, a PEG ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 0.74. Hawkins has a twelve month low of $53.64 and a twelve month high of $135.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 2.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.37. The business had revenue of $255.88 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $254.30 million. Hawkins had a net margin of 8.75% and a return on equity of 20.16%. Analysts anticipate that Hawkins will post 4.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hawkins Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. This is a positive change from Hawkins’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. Hawkins’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, BWS Financial downgraded Hawkins from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hawkins by 71.8% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 402 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hawkins in the third quarter worth about $100,000. USA Financial Formulas boosted its stake in shares of Hawkins by 35.1% during the 3rd quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 885 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $113,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of Hawkins by 36.9% during the 1st quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. now owns 2,342 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $180,000 after acquiring an additional 631 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Hawkins during the 1st quarter valued at about $212,000. 69.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hawkins Company 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.