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

Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 939,000 shares, an increase of 63.8% from the January 31st total of 573,200 shares. Approximately 4.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 133,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 7.0 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Hawkins Price Performance

NASDAQ HWKN traded up $0.65 on Tuesday, reaching $102.27. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 54,123 shares, compared to its average volume of 147,837. Hawkins has a twelve month low of $68.87 and a twelve month high of $139.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a current ratio of 2.50. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $114.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $120.80. The stock has a market cap of $2.14 billion, a PE ratio of 26.09, a PEG ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.82.

Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by ($0.05). Hawkins had a return on equity of 18.95% and a net margin of 8.60%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Hawkins will post 4 EPS for the current year.

Hawkins Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Hawkins’s payout ratio is 18.37%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hawkins

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HWKN. Wasatch Advisors LP acquired a new stake in Hawkins during the 4th quarter worth about $42,466,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Hawkins by 487.7% in the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 254,837 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $31,260,000 after acquiring an additional 211,472 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Hawkins during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $13,087,000. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Hawkins by 900.2% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 82,576 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $10,166,000 after acquiring an additional 74,320 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Hawkins by 291.5% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 86,100 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $10,562,000 after acquiring an additional 64,110 shares in the last quarter. 69.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.