Bank of Montreal Can Acquires 5,404 Shares of Hawkins, Inc. $HWKN

Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN) by 72.5% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 12,858 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 5,404 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in Hawkins were worth $1,827,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Hawkins by 26.4% during the 1st quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 981 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $104,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of Hawkins by 101.3% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 614 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hawkins by 118.8% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 280 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC boosted its position in Hawkins by 33.8% during the first quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 63,829 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $6,761,000 after purchasing an additional 16,136 shares during the period. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in shares of Hawkins in the first quarter worth about $244,000. 69.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hawkins Trading Down 3.7%

Shares of HWKN stock opened at $127.75 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $163.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $153.02. Hawkins, Inc. has a 12-month low of $98.30 and a 12-month high of $186.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market cap of $2.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.82.

Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $280.43 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $284.42 million. Hawkins had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 17.79%. Equities analysts anticipate that Hawkins, Inc. will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hawkins Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 28th. Investors of record on Friday, November 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 14th. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Hawkins’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.10%.

Insider Transactions at Hawkins

In related news, VP Drew M. Grahek purchased 1,587 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $126.34 per share, with a total value of $200,501.58. Following the purchase, the vice president directly owned 39,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,008,117.60. This trade represents a 4.17% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 4.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on HWKN shares. BWS Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Hawkins in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Raymond James Financial started coverage on Hawkins in a report on Thursday, July 24th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Hawkins in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Hawkins from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hawkins has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $162.50.

Hawkins 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.