Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN) Shares Down 7.2% – Time to Sell?

Shares of Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN) traded down 7.2% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $109.15 and last traded at $109.65. 29,181 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 103,009 shares. The stock had previously closed at $118.10.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Hawkins Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.33 billion, a PE ratio of 28.51, a P/E/G ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 2.27 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $125.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $118.59.

Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN) last posted its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $247.03 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $259.59 million. Hawkins had a return on equity of 19.64% and a net margin of 8.74%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Hawkins, Inc. will post 4.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hawkins Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. Hawkins’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.41%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hawkins

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ellsworth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hawkins by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 7,560 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $964,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in Hawkins by 1.9% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 5,571 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $507,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Hawkins by 71.8% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 402 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its position in shares of Hawkins by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 3,324 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $302,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, USA Financial Formulas grew its position in shares of Hawkins by 35.1% in the 3rd quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 885 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $113,000 after buying an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. 69.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.