The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the nine ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $180.86.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on MIDD shares. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $160.00 price target (down from $170.00) on shares of Middleby in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Middleby from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Middleby from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Middleby from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Middleby from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th.

Institutional Trading of Middleby

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in Middleby by 306.5% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 252 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Middleby by 820.0% during the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 322 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Middleby by 41.1% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 398 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Middleby in the 4th quarter worth $71,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Middleby in the 3rd quarter worth $72,000. Institutional investors own 98.55% of the company’s stock.

Middleby Price Performance

Shares of Middleby stock opened at $165.36 on Thursday. Middleby has a twelve month low of $118.41 and a twelve month high of $182.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $152.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $143.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.81 and a beta of 1.64.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.50 by $0.38. Middleby had a net margin of 10.14% and a return on equity of 14.66%. The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $996.69 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.65 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Middleby will post 9.11 EPS for the current year.

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.