Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) Receives Buy Rating from Canaccord Genuity Group

Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $159.00 price target on the industrial products company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of 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. Raymond James began coverage on shares of Middleby in a research report on Friday, June 28th. They issued a market perform rating on the stock. William Blair upgraded shares of Middleby to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price objective on Middleby from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Middleby has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $154.57.

Middleby Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of MIDD opened at $131.71 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $125.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $139.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 2.40 and a quick ratio of 1.28. Middleby has a one year low of $109.59 and a one year high of $161.01. The company has a market cap of $7.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.34 and a beta of 1.61.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The industrial products company reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $979.05 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.19 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Middleby will post 9.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John R. Miller III sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.32, for a total value of $252,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 10,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,380,803.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Chapin Sarah Palisi sold 235 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.18, for a total value of $32,237.30. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $989,204.98. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John R. Miller III sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly 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 valued at $304,134. 1.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Middleby

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Middleby by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,113,286 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $822,165,000 after acquiring an additional 15,798 shares in the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lifted its stake in Middleby by 1.0% in the first quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,998,522 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $321,342,000 after buying an additional 20,511 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted 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 worth $233,182,000 after buying an additional 11,552 shares in the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP grew its position in shares of Middleby by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 925,915 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $113,526,000 after buying an additional 14,413 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Middleby by 2.3% in 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.55% of the company’s stock.

Middleby Company Profile

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.