The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $156.17.

Several brokerages have commented on MIDD. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $164.00 price objective on shares of Middleby in a research report on Friday, September 13th. KeyCorp lowered their target price on Middleby from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 15th. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $164.00 target price on shares of Middleby in a report on Saturday, September 14th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Middleby from $155.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Raymond James began coverage on Middleby in a report on Friday, June 28th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Middleby

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MIDD. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Middleby by 1,246.2% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 175 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its stake in shares of Middleby by 133.3% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 231 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Middleby by 97.7% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 255 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of Middleby by 93.2% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 282 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Middleby in the second quarter valued at about $45,000. 98.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Middleby Stock Performance

Shares of Middleby stock opened at $138.08 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $137.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $134.24. The company has a market capitalization of $7.42 billion, a PE ratio of 19.23 and a beta of 1.58. 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 has a 52 week low of $109.59 and a 52 week high of $161.01.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $991.55 million for 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%. Middleby’s quarterly revenue was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.47 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Middleby will post 9.63 earnings per share for the current year.

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.