Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes Position in The Middleby Corporation $MIDD

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ:MIDD) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 13,400 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,777,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Middleby by 49.2% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,772,249 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $858,161,000 after purchasing an additional 1,902,957 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Middleby by 1,046.4% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,018,536 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $135,394,000 after buying an additional 929,688 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Middleby by 4,256.3% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 722,137 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $107,361,000 after acquiring an additional 705,560 shares during the period. Cooke & Bieler LP bought a new stake in shares of Middleby in the fourth quarter worth $48,113,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in Middleby by 260.0% during the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 419,936 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $55,822,000 after acquiring an additional 303,293 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on MIDD. Robert W. Baird set a $205.00 target price on Middleby in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price target (up from $168.00) on shares of Middleby in a research report on Friday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Middleby from $150.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 target price on shares of Middleby in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group set a $200.00 price target on shares of Middleby in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $191.62.

Middleby Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of MIDD opened at $171.98 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $154.28 and its 200 day moving average is $151.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The Middleby Corporation has a 12-month low of $110.82 and a 12-month high of $176.44. The company has a market capitalization of $7.78 billion, a PE ratio of -20.28 and a beta of 1.36.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.22. Middleby had a negative net margin of 11.46% and a positive return on equity of 15.94%. The firm had revenue of $839.91 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $777.19 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.08 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Middleby has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.540-9.700 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.270-2.390 EPS. Research analysts expect that The Middleby Corporation will post 9.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Middleby Profile

Middleby Corporation is a global manufacturer and distributor of commercial foodservice and food processing equipment. The company designs, engineers and markets a wide range of cooking, baking, refrigeration, warewashing, holding and dispensing solutions. Middleby’s products serve restaurants, hotels, convenience stores, institutional cafeterias, cruise ships and other foodservice operators.

The company’s portfolio spans multiple well-known brands, including Blodgett ovens, TurboChef rapid‐cook ovens, Southbend ranges and broilers, Pitco fryers, and Viking residential and commercial kitchen appliances.