Cardinal Capital Management Acquires 476 Shares of The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD)

Cardinal Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) by 5.1% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 9,840 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 476 shares during the quarter. Cardinal Capital Management’s holdings in Middleby were worth $1,495,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Middleby by 760.0% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 258 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the period. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Middleby in the 4th quarter worth approximately $71,000. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of Middleby by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 566 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $77,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC lifted its position in shares of Middleby by 220.6% in the 4th quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 606 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $82,000 after acquiring an additional 417 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of Middleby by 60.3% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 638 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $97,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on Middleby from $200.00 to $186.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Barclays raised their price objective on Middleby from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Middleby from $188.00 to $162.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Middleby from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Middleby from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Middleby currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $168.14.

Insider Activity at Middleby

In other Middleby news, Director Edward P. Garden purchased 249,339 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $149.59 per share, with a total value of $37,298,621.01. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,088,263 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $461,973,262.17. This trade represents a 8.78% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders acquired 640,968 shares of company stock valued at $93,495,270 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 6.18% of the company’s stock.

Middleby Price Performance

Middleby stock opened at $144.01 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $140.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $147.08. The Middleby Co. has a one year low of $118.41 and a one year high of $182.73. The company has a market capitalization of $7.73 billion, a PE ratio of 19.86 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 2.81 and a quick ratio of 1.70.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) last released its quarterly 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 return on equity of 14.66% and a net margin of 10.14%. The firm had revenue of $906.63 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $941.46 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Middleby Co. will post 9.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Middleby 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.