Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to Buy Rating

by · The Cerbat Gem

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD – Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Saturday.

MIDD has been the topic of a number of other research reports. KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of Middleby from $185.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Middleby from $188.00 to $162.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price target on shares of Middleby from $200.00 to $186.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Middleby presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $168.14.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on MIDD

Middleby Stock Down 2.3%

MIDD opened at $146.04 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a current ratio of 2.72. Middleby has a fifty-two week low of $121.70 and a fifty-two week high of $182.73. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $145.69 and its 200 day moving average is $147.94. The stock has a market cap of $7.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.26 and a beta of 1.57.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.14. Middleby had a net margin of 11.26% and a return on equity of 14.47%. The company had revenue of $906.63 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $941.46 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.89 EPS. Middleby’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Middleby will post 9.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Middleby news, Director Edward P. Garden bought 137,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $148.03 per share, for a total transaction of $20,280,110.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,276,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $485,069,737.02. This represents a 4.36% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In the last 90 days, insiders have bought 640,968 shares of company stock worth $93,495,270. 6.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Middleby

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Middleby by 59.8% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,029,484 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $460,422,000 after purchasing an additional 1,133,931 shares during the period. Garden Investment Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Middleby in the 4th quarter worth about $101,958,000. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Middleby in the 4th quarter worth about $91,869,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in Middleby by 237.2% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 366,293 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $49,614,000 after purchasing an additional 257,669 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Middleby in the 1st quarter worth about $29,733,000. 98.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Middleby Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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