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

Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 680,500 shares, an increase of 43.5% from the May 15th total of 474,300 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 140,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.8 days. Approximately 3.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Hawkins Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HWKN traded down $0.52 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $86.49. 79,066 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 96,163. Hawkins has a twelve month low of $45.37 and a twelve month high of $90.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm has a market cap of $1.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.09, a PEG ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $81.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.22.

Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 15th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $223.02 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $217.49 million. Hawkins had a net margin of 8.20% and a return on equity of 19.41%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Hawkins will post 3.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hawkins Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Investors of record on Friday, May 31st were issued a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 31st. Hawkins’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.83%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, BWS Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Hawkins from $74.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director James A. Faulconbridge bought 1,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $87.56 per share, with a total value of $157,608.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 40,517 shares in the company, valued at $3,547,668.52. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, Director James A. Faulconbridge bought 1,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $87.56 per share, with a total value of $157,608.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 40,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,547,668.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director James A. Faulconbridge acquired 1,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $86.50 per share, with a total value of $112,450.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 38,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,297,120.50. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 5,100 shares of company stock valued at $442,998 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Hawkins by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 4,567 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $351,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Hawkins by 7.5% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 3,896 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $299,000 after buying an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its holdings in Hawkins by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 16,682 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,281,000 after acquiring an additional 340 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AJOVista LLC purchased a new position in Hawkins during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. 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.