Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Has $7.94 Million Stake in Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lowered its position in Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN) by 16.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 64,750 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 12,389 shares during the quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P owned approximately 0.31% of Hawkins worth $7,943,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Hawkins in the 3rd quarter valued at about $538,000. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Hawkins by 5.9% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 8,256 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,052,000 after buying an additional 460 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hawkins by 8,633.3% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 262 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of Hawkins by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 11,009 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,403,000 after acquiring an additional 732 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC raised its stake in Hawkins by 20.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 256,245 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $32,663,000 after acquiring an additional 44,351 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 69.71% of the company’s stock.

Hawkins Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of HWKN opened at $106.14 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a current ratio of 2.50. Hawkins, Inc. has a 52 week low of $71.98 and a 52 week high of $139.55. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $108.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $118.71.

Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.77 by ($0.05). Hawkins had a net margin of 8.60% and a return on equity of 18.95%. On average, analysts forecast that Hawkins, Inc. will post 4 earnings per share for the current year.

Hawkins Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Hawkins’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, BWS Financial reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $122.00 price objective on shares of Hawkins in a report on Friday, January 31st.

About Hawkins

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.