Mendota Financial Group LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD)

Mendota Financial Group LLC lessened its stake in shares of The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) by 23.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 985 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 302 shares during the quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Middleby were worth $133,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP raised its stake in Middleby by 133.3% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 231 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its position in shares of Middleby by 306.5% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 252 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of Middleby by 93.2% in 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 period. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Middleby by 820.0% in the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 322 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Middleby by 91.8% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 489 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares during the period. 98.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on MIDD. StockNews.com raised Middleby from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $160.00 price objective (down from $170.00) on shares of Middleby in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Middleby in a report on Friday, December 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Middleby has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $154.67.

Middleby Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MIDD opened at $136.71 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $138.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $135.89. The Middleby Co. has a 52-week low of $118.41 and a 52-week high of $161.01. The company has a market cap of $7.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.86 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a current ratio of 2.81.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.48 by ($0.15). The firm had revenue of $942.81 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.35 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Middleby Co. will post 9.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.