Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Sells 160,347 Shares of The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans decreased its holdings in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) by 89.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,921 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 160,347 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Middleby were worth $2,320,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. raised its position in Middleby by 481.0% during the fourth quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 68,400 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $10,066,000 after purchasing an additional 56,627 shares during the period. PEAK6 Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Middleby during the 4th quarter valued at $3,435,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in Middleby by 533.7% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 483,214 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $71,115,000 after buying an additional 406,958 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its stake in Middleby by 10.1% during the first quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 73,925 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $11,886,000 after buying an additional 6,789 shares during the period. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in Middleby by 278.9% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 9,060 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,457,000 after acquiring an additional 6,669 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.55% of the company’s stock.

Middleby Trading Down 1.8 %

MIDD opened at $139.13 on Tuesday. The Middleby Co. has a 52 week low of $109.59 and a 52 week high of $161.01. The company has a market capitalization of $7.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.38 and a beta of 1.58. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $137.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $136.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $991.55 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $994.05 million. Middleby had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 9.90%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.47 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that The Middleby Co. will post 9.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James began coverage on shares of Middleby in a report on Friday, June 28th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of Middleby from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $164.00 target price on shares of Middleby in a research note on Saturday, September 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Middleby from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $164.00 price objective on shares of Middleby in a report on Friday, September 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $156.50.

Middleby 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.