Middleby’s (MIDD) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at Canaccord Genuity Group

Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) in a report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $155.00 price target on the industrial products company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on MIDD. StockNews.com upgraded Middleby from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective (down previously from $170.00) on shares of Middleby in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $164.00 target price on shares of Middleby in a report on Saturday, September 14th. One investment 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $154.67.

Middleby Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ MIDD opened at $134.72 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $7.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.58 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a current ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Middleby has a 12 month low of $118.41 and a 12 month high of $161.01. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $138.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $134.75.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.48 by ($0.15). Middleby had a net margin of 10.14% and a return on equity of 14.66%. The company had revenue of $942.81 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $996.60 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.35 EPS. Middleby’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Middleby will post 9.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Middleby by 11,853.1% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 967,365 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $118,609,000 after buying an additional 959,272 shares during the period. Select Equity Group L.P. boosted its stake in Middleby by 15.4% during the second quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 6,360,288 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $779,835,000 after acquiring an additional 846,884 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Middleby by 43.7% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 903,346 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $110,768,000 after purchasing an additional 274,513 shares during the period. Ariel Investments LLC increased its stake in Middleby by 58.0% in the second quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 510,127 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $62,547,000 after purchasing an additional 187,304 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Middleby by 30.6% during the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 713,618 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $87,497,000 after purchasing an additional 167,298 shares during the period. 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.