Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) PT Raised to $169.00

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) had its target price increased by Robert W. Baird from $155.00 to $169.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Middleby from a neutral rating to an underweight rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $118.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. William Blair upgraded shares of Middleby to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a buy rating and issued a $159.00 price objective on shares of Middleby in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Raymond James assumed coverage on shares of Middleby in a research note on Friday, June 28th. They issued a market perform rating for the company. Finally, 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $156.63.

Middleby Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of MIDD stock traded down $3.64 on Friday, reaching $140.72. 869,912 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 706,108. The company has a current ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $126.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $139.08. The company has a market capitalization of $7.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.60 and a beta of 1.61. Middleby has a twelve month low of $109.59 and a twelve month high of $161.01.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.12. 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 company’s revenue was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.47 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Middleby will post 9.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Chapin Sarah Palisi sold 235 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.18, for a total value of $32,237.30. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $989,204.98. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, Director Chapin Sarah Palisi sold 235 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.18, for a total value of $32,237.30. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,211 shares in the company, valued at $989,204.98. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John R. Miller III sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 10,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,380,803.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 2,385 shares of company stock valued at $304,134. Insiders own 1.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Middleby

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MIDD. 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 valued at $71,115,000 after purchasing an additional 406,958 shares during the period. Oldfield Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Middleby during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $51,736,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Middleby by 177.6% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 546,320 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $87,843,000 after acquiring an additional 349,546 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lifted its position in shares of Middleby by 421.5% during the 1st quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 356,714 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $57,356,000 after acquiring an additional 288,314 shares during the period. Finally, PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Middleby by 78.6% during the 4th quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 494,461 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $72,770,000 after acquiring an additional 217,618 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.55% of the company’s stock.

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.