Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 466,800 shares, a growth of 8.5% from the November 30th total of 430,300 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 117,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.0 days. Approximately 2.5% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Hawkins Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HWKN traded down $0.97 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $122.67. The stock had a trading volume of 117,096 shares, compared to its average volume of 126,393. The company has a current ratio of 2.27, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $125.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $117.51. The company has a market capitalization of $2.57 billion, a PE ratio of 31.37, a P/E/G ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 0.83. Hawkins has a 1 year low of $54.44 and a 1 year high of $139.55.

Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $247.03 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $259.59 million. Hawkins had a net margin of 8.74% and a return on equity of 19.64%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Hawkins will post 4.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hawkins Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. Hawkins’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.41%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hawkins

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Hawkins by 5.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 755,995 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $96,367,000 after purchasing an additional 38,877 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Hawkins by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 523,514 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $66,743,000 after buying an additional 18,119 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Hawkins by 11.5% in the 2nd quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 457,342 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $41,618,000 after buying an additional 47,129 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Hawkins by 22.4% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 360,714 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $32,825,000 after acquiring an additional 66,109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position in Hawkins by 20.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 256,245 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $32,663,000 after acquiring an additional 44,351 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, BWS Financial restated a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 price target on shares of Hawkins in a research note on Thursday, October 31st.

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.