Brokerages Set The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) PT at $159.38

The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $158.50.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MIDD shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Middleby from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on Middleby from $166.00 to $159.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Cathy L. Mccarthy sold 1,000 shares of Middleby stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.12, for a total transaction of $153,120.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,971 shares in the company, valued at $1,220,519.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Middleby news, Director Cathy L. Mccarthy sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.12, for a total value of $153,120.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,971 shares in the company, valued at $1,220,519.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Chapin Sarah Palisi sold 350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.47, for a total value of $53,014.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,306 shares in the company, valued at approximately $955,169.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Middleby

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Trillium Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Middleby by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC now owns 56,278 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,049,000 after buying an additional 1,347 shares in the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $8,281,000 after buying an additional 8,768 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Middleby in the first quarter valued at approximately $234,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Middleby during the first quarter valued at approximately $489,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in Middleby by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 13,409 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,156,000 after acquiring an additional 455 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.55% of the company’s stock.

Middleby Stock Performance

Shares of Middleby stock opened at $136.28 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $7.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.39 and a beta of 1.58. Middleby has a twelve month low of $109.59 and a twelve month high of $161.01. The company’s fifty day moving average is $148.93 and its 200 day moving average is $140.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The industrial products company reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.05 by ($0.16). Middleby had a net margin of 9.93% and a return on equity of 16.99%. The company had revenue of $926.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $979.05 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.19 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Middleby will post 10.27 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.