Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) Raised to "Buy" at StockNews.com

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on MIDD. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Middleby from $155.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Middleby from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $164.00 target price on shares of Middleby in a research note on Saturday, September 14th. KeyCorp dropped their price target on shares of Middleby from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on Middleby from $164.00 to $155.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Middleby presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $154.67.

Middleby Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of MIDD traded up $3.98 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $134.14. The stock had a trading volume of 818,273 shares, compared to its average volume of 501,203. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $136.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $133.62. The firm has a market cap of $7.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.50 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 2.81. Middleby has a 12-month low of $113.77 and a 12-month high of $161.01.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.48 by ($0.15). Middleby had a return on equity of 14.66% and a net margin of 10.14%. The company had revenue of $942.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $996.60 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.35 EPS. Middleby's quarterly revenue was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Middleby will post 9.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Middleby

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. raised its stake in shares of Middleby by 421.5% in the first quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 356,714 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $57,356,000 after acquiring an additional 288,314 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in Middleby by 278.9% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 9,060 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,457,000 after buying an additional 6,669 shares in the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its stake in Middleby by 18.4% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 56,484 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $8,281,000 after buying an additional 8,768 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Middleby by 0.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,113,286 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $822,165,000 after buying an additional 15,798 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new position in Middleby in the second quarter valued at approximately $500,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.55% of the company's stock.

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.

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