Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Purchases New Stake in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 27,560 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,834,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.05% of Middleby as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Middleby by 4.8% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,022 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $248,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the period. Mendota Financial Group LLC grew its position in Middleby by 10.0% in the second quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 1,150 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $141,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Middleby by 97.7% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 255 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its position in Middleby by 133.3% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 231 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aurora Investment Counsel grew its position in Middleby by 1.3% in the first quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel now owns 10,584 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,702,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on MIDD shares. 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 price objective on shares of Middleby from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Middleby from $155.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $164.00 price target on shares of Middleby in a research report on Saturday, September 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Middleby from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $156.17.

Middleby Stock Performance

Middleby stock opened at $140.38 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $7.55 billion, a PE ratio of 19.55 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $137.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $133.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 2.50 and a quick ratio of 1.43. The Middleby Co. has a 12 month low of $109.59 and a 12 month high of $161.01.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 9.90% and a return on equity of 15.25%. The firm’s revenue was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.47 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that The Middleby Co. will post 9.61 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.