Ellsworth Advisors LLC Takes $471,000 Position in Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN)

Ellsworth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 6,694 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $471,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of HWKN. Values First Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Hawkins by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. now owns 11,863 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $835,000 after acquiring an additional 847 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Hawkins during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,098,000. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in shares of Hawkins by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 4,895 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $345,000 after buying an additional 534 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB acquired a new stake in Hawkins in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,402,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Hawkins by 2.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,454,493 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $85,597,000 after buying an additional 34,415 shares in the last quarter. 69.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hawkins Stock Performance

Shares of HWKN traded down $0.25 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $76.80. 135,068 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 146,755. Hawkins, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.20 and a 1-year high of $77.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 2.45. The stock has a market cap of $1.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.07 and a beta of 0.74. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $68.89 and its 200 day moving average is $64.70.

Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.10. Hawkins had a net margin of 7.91% and a return on equity of 19.54%. The firm had revenue of $208.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $221.24 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Hawkins, Inc. will post 3.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hawkins Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 16th were issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. Hawkins’s payout ratio is 18.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Hawkins from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th.

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.