The Middleby Corporation $MIDD Shares Acquired by Aviso Financial Inc.

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 holdings in The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ:MIDD - Free Report) by 2.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 324,801 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 7,765 shares during the period. Middleby comprises 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 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MIDD. TCTC Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Middleby by 116.7% in the 1st quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 169 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Middleby by 760.0% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 258 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the period. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC lifted its position in shares of Middleby by 220.6% in the 4th quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 606 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 417 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of Middleby by 60.3% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 638 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Middleby by 44.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 901 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $137,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the period. 98.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MIDD shares. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Middleby from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Middleby from $145.00 to $125.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their target price on shares of Middleby from $186.00 to $162.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Middleby from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, July 20th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Middleby to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $159.00.

Middleby Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MIDD traded up $7.18 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $137.31. The company's stock had a trading volume of 792,081 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,201,905. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.96 billion, a PE ratio of 17.47 and a beta of 1.58. The Middleby Corporation has a twelve month low of $118.09 and a twelve month high of $182.73. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $141.35 and a 200 day moving average of $146.12. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The industrial products company reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $977.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $979.59 million. Middleby had a net margin of 11.06% and a return on equity of 14.14%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.39 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that The Middleby Corporation will post 9.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.