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

by · The Cerbat Gem

Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKNGet Free Report) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 466,800 shares, an increase of 8.5% from the November 30th total of 430,300 shares. Currently, 2.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 117,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.0 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Read Our Latest Research Report on Hawkins

Hawkins Trading Down 0.8 %

HWKN stock traded down $0.97 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $122.67. The stock had a trading volume of 117,096 shares, compared to its average volume of 126,393. Hawkins has a 12-month low of $54.44 and a 12-month high of $139.55. The firm has a market cap of $2.57 billion, a PE ratio of 31.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 0.83. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $125.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $117.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 2.27 and a quick ratio of 1.39.

Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKNGet Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $247.03 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $259.59 million. Hawkins had a return on equity of 19.64% and a net margin of 8.74%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Hawkins will post 4.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hawkins Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. Hawkins’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.41%.

Institutional Trading of Hawkins

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HWKN. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Hawkins by 2.4% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 191,433 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $17,420,000 after buying an additional 4,398 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in Hawkins by 36.0% in the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 5,605 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $510,000 after purchasing an additional 1,483 shares in the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Hawkins in the 2nd quarter valued at $279,000. Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in Hawkins by 4.6% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 56,131 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $5,108,000 after purchasing an additional 2,447 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Hawkins by 45.1% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 89,026 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $8,101,000 after purchasing an additional 27,680 shares in the last quarter. 69.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Hawkins

(Get Free Report)

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.

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