Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN) Short Interest Down 31.3% in February

Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 645,100 shares, a drop of 31.3% from the February 13th total of 939,000 shares. Approximately 3.4% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 136,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.7 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hawkins

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Hawkins by 8,633.3% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 262 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Hawkins during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Hawkins by 155.4% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 355 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Hawkins during the 4th quarter worth $53,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Hawkins by 262.3% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 442 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. 69.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hawkins Price Performance

Hawkins stock opened at $108.00 on Friday. Hawkins has a 52-week low of $71.20 and a 52-week high of $139.55. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $110.41 and a 200-day moving average of $119.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.55, a PEG ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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, analysts predict that Hawkins will post 4 EPS for the current year.

Hawkins Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors 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 yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Hawkins’s payout ratio is 18.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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