Aviso Financial Inc. Raises Holdings in The Middleby Corporation $MIDD

Key Points

• Aviso Financial Inc. increased its stake in The Middleby Corporation by 2.4%, acquiring an additional 7,765 shares, which now total 324,801 shares valued at approximately $49.4 million.
• Analysts have recently lowered their price targets for Middleby, with Barclays setting a new target of $165 and Zacks Research rating the stock as a "strong sell".
• Middleby reported earnings per share (EPS) of $2.35 for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, but experienced a 1.4% decline in year-over-year revenue.

Aviso Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ:MIDD - Free Report) by 2.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 324,801 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,765 shares during the quarter. Middleby comprises approximately 2.4% of Aviso Financial Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Aviso Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.61% of Middleby worth $49,363,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Middleby by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,517 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $341,000 after buying an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Garden Investment Management L.P. acquired a new position in Middleby in the 4th quarter worth about $101,958,000. Sarasin & Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Middleby in the first quarter worth about $2,283,000. IMC Chicago LLC acquired a new stake in Middleby in the 1st quarter worth $4,069,000. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP acquired a new stake in shares of Middleby during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,621,000. 98.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Middleby Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MIDD traded down $2.21 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $130.40. 664,797 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,209,795. The Middleby Corporation has a 52-week low of $118.09 and a 52-week high of $182.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.61 billion, a PE ratio of 16.59 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 2.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $141.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $146.61.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their target price on shares of Middleby from $186.00 to $162.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Middleby to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Middleby from $145.00 to $125.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Middleby from $188.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Middleby from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, July 20th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $159.00.

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.