Hawkins, Inc. (HWKN) Stock Price & How to Invest
Last updated July 2026
Short answer
HWKN is Hawkins, Inc., a Minnesota-based specialty chemicals and water treatment company that has grown steadily by acquiring regional water treatment businesses and now trades at a premium valuation. It is a slow-and-steady industrial compounder, not a high-growth or speculative name.
HWKN stock price
As of 2026-07-22, Hawkins, Inc. (HWKN) last closed at $143.17, down 10.3% over the past year. Over the past 52 weeks it has traded between $120.17 and $184.75.
Prices are daily closing prices from Yahoo Finance and may be delayed. For the live quote, check your broker or Hawkins, Inc.'s investor relations page. Walnut is informational, not investment advice.
What does Hawkins, Inc. (HWKN) do?
Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ: HWKN) is a specialty chemicals company founded in 1938 and headquartered in Roseville, Minnesota. It operates through three segments: Water Treatment (chemicals, equipment, and services for potable water, municipal and industrial wastewater, pools, and agriculture), Industrial (chemicals and blends for food, pharmaceutical, energy, electronics, and plating customers), and Health and Nutrition (ingredient distribution and formulation for supplements, functional foods, and personal care). Water Treatment has become the growth engine, expanded aggressively through a string of regional acquisitions such as WaterSurplus.
The investment picture is one of a steady industrial compounder. In fiscal 2026 the company crossed $1 billion in revenue for the first time, delivered record profitability, and extended a dividend streak that now spans more than four decades. The tradeoff for investors is valuation: after a strong multi-year run the stock trades at a meaningful premium to the broader chemicals sector, so returns increasingly depend on continued acquisition execution and margin discipline in the Water Treatment segment rather than on a cheap starting price.
What's driving Hawkins, Inc. (HWKN)?
1. Water Treatment roll-up
Water Treatment is the fastest-growing segment, up roughly 28% year over year in the first quarter of fiscal 2026. Hawkins has been acquiring regional water treatment businesses (including WaterSurplus and several tuck-ins) to expand geographic reach and add recurring service revenue. This gives the company a repeatable growth playbook in an essential, non-cyclical end market.
2. Record profitability and margin mix
Fiscal 2026 produced record revenue, net income, and adjusted EBITDA, with gross profit rising to roughly $245 million. The shift toward higher-margin water treatment services and blended products has supported margins even as the lower-margin Industrial segment faces commodity pass-through dynamics.
3. Long dividend and cash-return record
Hawkins has paid a dividend for more than 40 consecutive years and raised it again in fiscal 2026. Consistent free cash flow funds both the dividend and bolt-on acquisitions, giving the company an internally-funded growth model that appeals to income-and-quality oriented holders.
4. Essential, non-discretionary end markets
Municipal and industrial water treatment demand is tied to regulation, public health, and infrastructure rather than the economic cycle. That gives Hawkins relatively stable, defensive revenue compared with more cyclical chemical producers, supporting steadier through-cycle results.
What are the risks to Hawkins, Inc. (HWKN)?
The largest risk is valuation: the stock trades at a premium P/E well above the chemicals-industry and peer averages, so any growth disappointment could compress the multiple. The acquisition-led strategy carries integration and overpayment risk, and the fiscal 2026 borrowing to fund deals added leverage to fund future purchases. The Industrial segment is exposed to raw-material cost swings and pass-through timing that can pressure margins. Health and Nutrition is smaller and more volatile in demand. Finally, the company is relatively small and concentrated in North America, so a single large deal or region can meaningfully affect results.
How is Hawkins, Inc. (HWKN) valued? (approximate, July 2026)
A simple financial snapshot. These are approximations and refresh quarterly; for current figures see Hawkins, Inc.'s investor relations page or your broker.
- Revenue (FY2026, TTM): ~$1.08 billion
- Net income (FY2026): ~$81.5 million
- Adjusted EBITDA (FY2026): ~$179 million
- Market cap: ~$3.1 billion
- P/E (trailing): ~35-39x
- EV/EBITDA: ~20x
Fiscal 2026 (ended in spring 2026) was a record year, with revenue up about 11% and Hawkins crossing $1 billion in sales for the first time. At a trailing P/E in the mid-to-high 30s and roughly 20x EV/EBITDA, the shares trade at a premium to the US chemicals sector average and to close peers. The premium reflects the market pricing in continued acquisition-led water treatment growth.
Who competes with Hawkins, Inc. (HWKN)?
Water treatment chemicals and services
Larger players such as Ecolab (Nalco), Kemira, and Solenis compete in municipal and industrial water treatment. Hawkins differentiates through regional service density and a roll-up of local providers, but faces scale and technology advantages from these bigger names.
Industrial chemical distribution
Broad-line distributors including Univar Solutions and Brenntag overlap with Hawkins's Industrial segment in sourcing, blending, and delivering commodity and specialty chemicals to manufacturers, competing largely on logistics, breadth, and price.
Health and nutrition ingredients
In the smaller Health and Nutrition segment, Hawkins competes with ingredient distributors and formulators such as IFF, ADM, and Glanbia Nutritionals for supplement, functional food, and personal care customers.
How to invest in Hawkins, Inc. (HWKN)
There are three common ways to get HWKN exposure. Buy shares (or fractional shares) directly at any major broker. Hold an ETF that includes it, which spreads the position across many companies. Or build it into a focused thematic basket, so HWKN sits alongside other stocks that express the same thesis.
Walnut takes the basket route. Describe a thesis where HWKN fits (for example “AI infrastructure” or “dividend-growth large-caps”) and the AI proposes 5 to 6 constituents with target weights. You review the plan and fund it through your own broker when you're ready.
New to this? Start with how to invest in stocks, see how to analyze a stock with AI, or compare the best AI stock analyzers.
The bottom line on Hawkins, Inc. (HWKN)
Hawkins is a durable, dividend-paying water treatment and specialty chemicals operator whose main open question is whether its premium multiple is justified by acquisition-led growth.
More on Hawkins, Inc. (HWKN)
Whether HWKN is worth buying today depends more on your time horizon and what you already hold than on any single call. We walk through valuation, what would have to go right, and the risks in is HWKN a buy?, and where the stock could go from here in the HWKN stock forecast.
For income investors, whether HWKN pays a dividend and how the payout looks is covered in does HWKN pay a dividend?
Build a basket around HWKN with Walnut
Use Hawkins, Inc. as one constituent in a thematic basket Walnut's AI helps you assemble. Describe a thesis you believe in, the AI proposes the holdings and weights, and you approve before any broker order.
FAQ
What does Hawkins, Inc. (HWKN) do?
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Hawkins is a US specialty chemicals company that formulates, distributes, and blends chemicals across three segments: Water Treatment, Industrial, and Health and Nutrition. Water Treatment, serving municipal and industrial water customers, is its largest growth driver.
Is HWKN a water stock?
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Partly. Water Treatment is Hawkins's biggest and fastest-growing segment, so it is often grouped with water-infrastructure names, but it also runs sizable Industrial and Health and Nutrition businesses, making it a diversified specialty chemicals company rather than a pure-play water stock.
How fast is Hawkins growing?
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In fiscal 2026 revenue rose about 11% to roughly $1.08 billion, its first year above $1 billion. Growth has been driven by the Water Treatment segment, which expanded roughly 28% year over year in the first quarter of fiscal 2026, largely through acquisitions.
Does HWKN pay a dividend?
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Yes. Hawkins has paid a dividend for more than 40 consecutive years and raised it again in fiscal 2026 to about $0.75 per share for the year. The yield is modest, reflecting the stock's premium valuation, and the company emphasizes reinvestment and acquisitions.
Why does HWKN trade at a high P/E?
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The market has assigned a premium multiple, a trailing P/E in the mid-to-high 30s, because of Hawkins's consistent record profitability, defensive water treatment exposure, and acquisition-led growth. That premium sits well above the chemicals-industry average, which raises the bar for future results.
What are the main risks with HWKN?
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Key risks include a premium valuation that could compress on any growth stumble, integration and overpayment risk from its acquisition strategy, added leverage taken on to fund deals, raw-material cost swings in the Industrial segment, and its relatively small size and North American concentration.
Who competes with Hawkins?
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In water treatment it competes with larger firms like Ecolab (Nalco), Kemira, and Solenis. In industrial chemical distribution it overlaps with Univar Solutions and Brenntag, and in health and nutrition ingredients with distributors and formulators such as IFF, ADM, and Glanbia.
How can I invest in HWKN through Walnut?
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You can add HWKN to a thematic basket in Walnut, for example a water infrastructure or specialty industrials theme, set a target weight, connect your brokerage, and place orders that bring the basket toward those targets. Walnut is not an investment adviser, so do your own research first.
Walnut is informational, not investment advice. Financial figures on this page are approximations; always verify current numbers with Hawkins, Inc.'s investor relations page or your broker before making investment decisions.