Strs Ohio Takes $1.84 Million Position in The Middleby Corporation $MIDD

Key Points

• Strs Ohio has acquired 12,098 shares of The Middleby Corporation, valued at approximately $1,839,000, marking a new position for the institutional investor.
• Numerous institutional investors have increased their stakes in Middleby during the first quarter, with several reporting significant percentage increases, highlighting strong interest in the company.
• The Middleby Corporation's last earnings report showed an EPS of $2.35, which exceeded consensus estimates, though revenue declined by 1.4% year-over-year.

Strs Ohio acquired a new position in The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ:MIDD - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 12,098 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $1,839,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MIDD. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Middleby by 59.8% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,029,484 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $460,422,000 after acquiring an additional 1,133,931 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Middleby by 0.6% in the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,319,757 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $200,577,000 after purchasing an additional 7,791 shares during the last quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Middleby by 1.5% during the first quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC now owns 688,560 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $104,647,000 after acquiring an additional 10,310 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. raised its position in Middleby by 32.5% during the first quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 578,496 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $87,920,000 after acquiring an additional 141,769 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Middleby by 2.2% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 503,045 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $76,453,000 after buying an additional 10,780 shares in the last quarter. 98.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on MIDD shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Middleby from $145.00 to $125.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Middleby from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Middleby from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, July 20th. Zacks Research raised shares of Middleby to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of Middleby from $162.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $160.71.

Middleby Stock Performance

Middleby stock traded down $0.31 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $134.85. 1,979,792 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 738,952. The Middleby Corporation has a one year low of $118.09 and a one year high of $182.73. The company has a market cap of $6.83 billion, a PE ratio of 17.16 and a beta of 1.54. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $138.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $142.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 2.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The industrial products company reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.15. Middleby had a return on equity of 14.14% and a net margin of 11.06%.The company had revenue of $977.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $979.59 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.39 earnings per share. Middleby's revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Middleby Corporation will post 9.11 EPS for the current 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.