Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) Upgraded to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Monday morning.

MIDD has been the topic of a number of other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Middleby from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of Middleby from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 15th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Middleby from $155.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $164.00 target price on shares of Middleby in a research note on Saturday, September 14th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on Middleby from $164.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Middleby has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $154.67.

Middleby Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ MIDD opened at $141.24 on Monday. Middleby has a 52 week low of $113.77 and a 52 week high of $161.01. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $136.85 and its 200 day moving average is $133.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a current ratio of 2.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.48 and a beta of 1.58.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.48 by ($0.15). The firm had revenue of $942.81 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $996.60 million. Middleby had a net margin of 10.14% and a return on equity of 14.66%. Middleby’s quarterly revenue was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.35 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Middleby will post 9.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Middleby

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of MIDD. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Middleby by 11,853.1% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 967,365 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $118,609,000 after acquiring an additional 959,272 shares during the period. Select Equity Group L.P. raised its position in shares of Middleby by 15.4% in the second quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 6,360,288 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $779,835,000 after purchasing an additional 846,884 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 288,314 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Middleby by 43.7% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 903,346 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $110,768,000 after buying an additional 274,513 shares during the period. Finally, Ariel Investments LLC grew its stake in Middleby by 58.0% in the 2nd quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 510,127 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $62,547,000 after buying an additional 187,304 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.