Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN) by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 99,902 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 4,069 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Hawkins were worth $9,091,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HWKN. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Hawkins during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,504,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hawkins by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,516,717 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $106,807,000 after purchasing an additional 62,224 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Hawkins by 116.9% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 104,537 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $8,049,000 after purchasing an additional 56,330 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its stake in shares of Hawkins by 7,343.9% in the first quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 22,555 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,732,000 after purchasing an additional 22,252 shares during the period. Finally, EFG Asset Management North America Corp. purchased a new stake in Hawkins during the second quarter worth about $1,507,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Hawkins

In related news, Director James A. Faulconbridge bought 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $86.47 per share, for a total transaction of $172,940.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 44,017 shares in the company, valued at $3,806,149.99. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Hawkins Stock Down 1.9 %

HWKN opened at $115.73 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 2.27. The company has a market cap of $2.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.24, a PEG ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 0.74. Hawkins, Inc. has a one year low of $53.64 and a one year high of $127.35. The business’s fifty day moving average is $110.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $90.32.

Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.37. The business had revenue of $255.88 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $254.30 million. Hawkins had a net margin of 8.75% and a return on equity of 20.16%. Analysts anticipate that Hawkins, Inc. will post 4.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hawkins Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This is a positive change from Hawkins’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. Hawkins’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.06%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, BWS Financial increased their target price on shares of Hawkins from $74.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th.

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.