The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the nine research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $153.43.

MIDD has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James initiated coverage on Middleby in a report on Friday. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. William Blair raised Middleby to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Middleby from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $118.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their target price on Middleby from $166.00 to $159.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 9th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Middleby news, Director John R. Miller III sold 2,000 shares of Middleby stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.32, for a total transaction of $252,640.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,380,803.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Middleby news, Director Chapin Sarah Palisi sold 235 shares of Middleby stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.18, for a total transaction of $32,237.30. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $989,204.98. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John R. Miller III sold 2,000 shares of Middleby stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.32, for a total transaction of $252,640.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,931 shares in the company, valued at $1,380,803.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 2,385 shares of company stock worth $304,134. Corporate insiders own 1.16% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Middleby

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Middleby by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,113,286 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $822,165,000 after acquiring an additional 15,798 shares in the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Middleby by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,998,522 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $321,342,000 after acquiring an additional 20,511 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of Middleby by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,696,476 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $251,621,000 after acquiring an additional 198,859 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Middleby by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,450,221 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $233,182,000 after acquiring an additional 11,552 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Middleby by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 617,974 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $90,953,000 after acquiring an additional 13,632 shares in the last quarter. 98.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Middleby Stock Performance

MIDD opened at $122.61 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $131.38 and its 200-day moving average is $141.70. The stock has a market cap of $6.59 billion, a PE ratio of 17.08 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a current ratio of 2.40, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Middleby has a twelve month low of $109.59 and a twelve month high of $161.01.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The industrial products company reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.05 by ($0.16). Middleby had a net margin of 9.82% and a return on equity of 15.88%. The business had revenue of $926.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $979.05 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.19 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Middleby will post 9.79 earnings per share for the current year.

About Middleby

The Middleby Corporation designs, markets, manufactures, distributes, and services foodservice, food processing, and residential kitchen equipment worldwide. Its Commercial Foodservice Equipment Group segment offers conveyor, combi, convection, baking, proofing, deck, speed cooking, and hydrovection ovens; ranges, fryers, and rethermalizers; steam cooking, food warming, catering, induction cooking, and countertop cooking equipment; heated cabinets, charbroilers, ventless cooking systems, kitchen ventilation, toasters, griddles, charcoal grills, professional mixers, stainless steel fabrication, custom millwork, professional refrigerators, blast chillers, cold rooms, ice machines, and freezers; soft serve ice cream, coffee and beverage dispensing, home and professional craft brewing equipment; and fry dispensers, bottle filling and canning equipment, IoT solutions, and controls development and manufacturing.