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

Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 407,000 shares, a growth of 8.2% from the October 15th total of 376,300 shares. Currently, 2.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 117,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.5 days.

Hawkins Price Performance

Shares of Hawkins stock traded up $0.58 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $124.18. 90,386 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 129,041. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $122.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $107.29. The stock has a market cap of $2.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.61, a PEG ratio of 4.29 and a beta of 0.77. Hawkins has a 12 month low of $54.44 and a 12 month high of $135.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 2.27.

Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.18 by ($0.02). Hawkins had a return on equity of 19.64% and a net margin of 8.74%. The company had revenue of $247.03 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $259.59 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Hawkins will post 4.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Hawkins Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Hawkins’s payout ratio is 18.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, BWS Financial reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 price target on shares of Hawkins in a report on Thursday, October 31st.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HWKN. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position 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 worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted 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 acquiring an additional 168 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Hawkins by 289.2% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 467 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Hawkins by 242.5% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 459 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Hawkins during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $100,000. 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.