The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) Given Consensus Rating of "Hold" by Brokerages

Shares of The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD - Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of "Hold" from the nine brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $179.43.

MIDD has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of Middleby from $185.00 to $175.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Middleby from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Middleby from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Middleby from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Middleby from $157.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Chapin Sarah Palisi sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.51, for a total value of $81,755.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $999,209.61. This trade represents a 7.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 6.18% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Middleby

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Middleby by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,260,935 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $712,594,000 after acquiring an additional 21,771 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Middleby by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,895,553 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $256,753,000 after purchasing an additional 35,449 shares in the last quarter. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Middleby by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,866,359 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $252,798,000 after purchasing an additional 53,276 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC increased its holdings in Middleby by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,311,966 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $177,706,000 after purchasing an additional 47,443 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Middleby by 4,494.8% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,266,327 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $171,524,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238,767 shares in the last quarter. 98.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Middleby Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of Middleby stock traded up $3.37 during trading on Friday, hitting $130.81. 121,337 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 675,652. The stock has a market cap of $7.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.04 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a current ratio of 2.81. Middleby has a twelve month low of $118.41 and a twelve month high of $182.73. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $150.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $145.59.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.50 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $996.69 million. Middleby had a return on equity of 14.66% and a net margin of 10.14%. The firm's revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.65 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Middleby will post 9.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.