The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $168.14.

MIDD has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Middleby from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Middleby from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price 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, KeyCorp dropped their price target on shares of Middleby from $185.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th.

Middleby Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MIDD opened at $151.49 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average price of $141.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $145.78. Middleby has a fifty-two week low of $118.41 and a fifty-two week high of $182.73. The firm has a market cap of $8.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.90 and a beta of 1.65.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $906.63 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $941.46 million. Middleby had a net margin of 10.14% and a return on equity of 14.66%. Middleby’s revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Middleby will post 9.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Edward P. Garden bought 203,058 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $139.13 per share, for a total transaction of $28,251,459.54. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,838,924 shares in the company, valued at approximately $394,979,496.12. The trade was a 7.70% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Chapin Sarah Palisi sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.51, for a total transaction of $81,755.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $999,209.61. This trade represents a 7.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have purchased 466,495 shares of company stock worth $67,654,167 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 6.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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