Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Sells 12,389 Shares of Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P trimmed its stake in shares of Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN) by 16.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 64,750 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 12,389 shares during the quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in Hawkins were worth $7,943,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of HWKN. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Hawkins by 8,633.3% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 262 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Hawkins by 155.4% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 355 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hawkins by 262.3% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 442 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Hawkins by 242.5% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 459 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its stake in Hawkins by 37.0% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 948 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $116,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. 69.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hawkins Stock Performance

NASDAQ:HWKN opened at $106.14 on Friday. Hawkins, Inc. has a twelve month low of $71.98 and a twelve month high of $139.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $108.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $118.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.22 billion, a PE ratio of 27.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.77.

Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by ($0.05). Hawkins had a net margin of 8.60% and a return on equity of 18.95%. On average, analysts anticipate that Hawkins, Inc. will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hawkins Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.68%. Hawkins’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, BWS Financial restated a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 target price on shares of Hawkins in a research note on Friday, January 31st.

Hawkins Company 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.