Aurora Investment Counsel Buys 733 Shares of The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD)

Aurora Investment Counsel lifted its stake in shares of The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) by 6.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,488 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 733 shares during the quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel’s holdings in Middleby were worth $1,737,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lifted its position in Middleby by 421.5% in the 1st quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 356,714 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $57,356,000 after acquiring an additional 288,314 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in Middleby by 278.9% in the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 9,060 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,457,000 after acquiring an additional 6,669 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Middleby by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,113,286 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $822,165,000 after acquiring an additional 15,798 shares in the last quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new position in Middleby in the 2nd quarter valued at about $500,000. Finally, Addenda Capital Inc. lifted its position in Middleby by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. Addenda Capital Inc. now owns 57,645 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,068,000 after acquiring an additional 4,512 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.55% of the company’s stock.

Middleby Stock Down 0.4 %

Middleby stock opened at $135.73 on Thursday. The Middleby Co. has a 1-year low of $118.41 and a 1-year high of $161.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.72 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a current ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $137.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $133.36.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.48 by ($0.15). Middleby had a net margin of 10.14% and a return on equity of 14.66%. The business had revenue of $942.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $996.60 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.35 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that The Middleby Co. will post 9.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MIDD has been the topic of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Middleby from $155.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $164.00 price objective on shares of Middleby in a research note on Saturday, September 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Middleby from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Middleby from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price objective on shares of Middleby from $164.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Middleby currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $154.67.

Middleby 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.