Hawkins Acquires Intercoastal Trading in Maryland

Hawkins, Inc. HWKN has completed the acquisition of the assets of Intercoastal Trading, Inc. and its affiliates. Intercoastal Trading supplies water treatment chemicals and equipment to customers in Maryland, Delaware and Virginia.
Hawkins continues to expand its water treatment business. Intercoastal Trading will speed its expansion in the heavily populated East Coast with its location within 200 miles of major population centers.
Hawkins anticipates that the purchase of Intercostal Trading will be accretive to earnings per share this fiscal year. Further, it is expected that even after the acquisition, the company's first-quarter balance sheet will remain strong, with an expected leverage ratio of about 1x EBITDA at quarter end. In addition, all four acquisitions completed during fiscal 2024 meet or exceed Hawkins' business expectations, and the integrations are on pace.
Intercoastal's workers will be able to continue offering the expanded technical expertise and efficient product delivery that customers have come to expect and trust, with the support of Hawkins' top resources and commitment to excellence.
Shares of Hawkins have gained 82.4% over the past year against the industry's 10% decline.

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In the fiscal fourth-quarter call, the company said that it expects continued top and bottom-line growth in fiscal 2025, with the top line approaching $1 billion in revenues. HWKN anticipates Water Treatment to become its biggest reporting segment. While it is cautiously optimistic about the Industrial segment, it believes that economic and competitive pressures will continue to impact many of its customers and demand.
For the Health and Nutrition unit, HWKN anticipates the improved performance it witnessed in the back half of fiscal 2024 to continue into fiscal 2025, and expects results to improve from fiscal 2024.

Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Hawkins currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
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The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Ecolab's current year earnings is pegged at $6.56 per share, indicating a year-over-year rise of 25.9%. The consensus estimate for ECL's current-year earnings has gone up in the past 30 days. ECL, which currently carries a Zacks Rank of 2, beat the consensus estimate in each of the last four quarters, with the average earnings surprise being 1.3%. The company's shares have rallied roughly 38.6% in the past year.

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