Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) Lowered to Hold Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Wednesday morning.

MIDD has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Middleby from $157.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on shares of Middleby from $192.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Middleby from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Middleby from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $180.86.

Middleby Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MIDD opened at $154.76 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Middleby has a twelve month low of $118.41 and a twelve month high of $182.73. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $161.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $146.52. The company has a market capitalization of $8.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.35 and a beta of 1.72.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.50 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $996.69 million. Middleby had a return on equity of 14.66% and a net margin of 10.14%. The business’s revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Middleby will post 9.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Chapin Sarah Palisi sold 500 shares of Middleby stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.51, for a total value of $81,755.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $999,209.61. The trade was a 7.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Middleby

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Middleby by 121.4% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,423 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $615,000 after acquiring an additional 2,425 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Middleby during the fourth quarter valued at $469,000. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. acquired a new position in shares of Middleby in the 4th quarter valued at $219,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Middleby by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 22,929 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,106,000 after purchasing an additional 2,763 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Olstein Capital Management L.P. raised its holdings in Middleby by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 71,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,617,000 after buying an additional 2,500 shares during the period. 98.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.