Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN) Short Interest Down 10.7% in September

Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 395,200 shares, a decline of 10.7% from the September 15th total of 442,600 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 131,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.0 days. Approximately 2.1% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Hawkins Stock Performance

Shares of HWKN traded up $2.78 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $132.75. 157,603 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 128,569. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $122.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $100.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.27 and a quick ratio of 1.44. Hawkins has a twelve month low of $53.64 and a twelve month high of $134.35. The company has a market capitalization of $2.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.98, a PEG ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 0.74.

Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.37. The firm had revenue of $255.88 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $254.30 million. Hawkins had a return on equity of 20.16% and a net margin of 8.75%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Hawkins will post 4.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hawkins Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This is a boost from Hawkins’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. Hawkins’s payout ratio is 20.06%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hawkins

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in Hawkins by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 5,571 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $507,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC increased its position in Hawkins by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC now owns 2,629 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $239,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its position in Hawkins by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 4,567 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $351,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the period. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Hawkins by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC now owns 22,505 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,728,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Hawkins by 71.8% during the 3rd 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.71% of the company’s stock.

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.