Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC Reduces Position in Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN)

Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN) by 15.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,948 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 345 shares during the quarter. Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Hawkins were worth $239,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Hawkins by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC now owns 14,602 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,791,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Hawkins in the fourth quarter worth $2,984,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB purchased a new stake in Hawkins in the fourth quarter worth $613,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Hawkins by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 99,420 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $12,196,000 after acquiring an additional 3,436 shares during the period. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lifted its stake in Hawkins by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 16,620 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,039,000 after acquiring an additional 768 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.71% of the company’s stock.

Hawkins Stock Performance

Shares of HWKN stock opened at $104.99 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $114.43 and a 200 day moving average of $120.91. Hawkins, Inc. has a 52 week low of $68.43 and a 52 week high of $139.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.78, a PEG ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.77 by ($0.05). Hawkins had a net margin of 8.60% and a return on equity of 18.95%. As a group, research analysts expect that Hawkins, Inc. will post 4 earnings per share for the current year.

Hawkins Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Hawkins’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.