191,502 Shares in Hawkins, Inc. $HWKN Bought by William Blair Investment Management LLC

William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 191,502 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,212,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Hawkins by 9.0% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 12,331 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,306,000 after acquiring an additional 1,017 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Hawkins by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 11,499 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,218,000 after purchasing an additional 494 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hawkins by 9.1% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 52,778 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $5,590,000 after purchasing an additional 4,400 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Hawkins by 83.2% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 38,416 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $4,069,000 after buying an additional 17,447 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Hawkins by 50.3% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 282,349 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $40,122,000 after acquiring an additional 94,503 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 69.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on HWKN shares. Weiss Ratings cut Hawkins from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. BWS Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Hawkins in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Barclays set a $142.00 target price on Hawkins and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Hawkins from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $171.00.

Hawkins Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of Hawkins stock opened at $118.99 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.79. Hawkins, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $117.98 and a fifty-two week high of $186.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 2.27. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $140.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $147.56.

Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.39 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $315.68 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $313.42 million. Hawkins had a net margin of 7.29% and a return on equity of 15.42%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Hawkins, Inc. will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hawkins Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Hawkins’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.73%.

Hawkins Company Profile

Hawkins, Inc (NASDAQ: HWKN) is a specialty chemical company that produces and distributes water-treatment and industrial chemicals across North America. Founded in 1938 and headquartered in Roseville, Minnesota, the company has built a network of manufacturing facilities and distribution centers that serve municipal, industrial and commercial customers. As a publicly traded entity, Hawkins leverages its long-standing presence in the chemical distribution industry to provide tailored solutions for complex water-treatment challenges and specialty chemical needs.

Hawkins’ product portfolio encompasses a wide range of chemicals, including sodium hypochlorite, sodium hydroxide, hydrogen peroxide, chlorine, acids and specialty blends.