The Middleby Corporation $MIDD Position Boosted by Earnest Partners LLC

Key Points

• Earnest Partners LLC increased its holdings in The Middleby Corporation (MIDD) by 0.6%, owning approximately 1.32 million shares valued at around $200.58 million.
• Several institutions, including Northern Trust and AQR Capital Management, reported significant increases in their positions in Middleby during the last quarter, underscoring strong institutional interest.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed views on Middleby, with five analysts rating it as a Buy and a target price range between $125.00 and $188.00 per share, reflecting varied expectations for the company's performance.

Earnest Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ:MIDD - Free Report) by 0.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,319,757 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,791 shares during the period. Middleby comprises about 1.0% of Earnest Partners LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Earnest Partners LLC owned approximately 2.46% of Middleby worth $200,577,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MIDD. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Middleby by 29.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 492,265 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $66,677,000 after buying an additional 110,601 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Middleby by 21.9% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 72,048 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $9,759,000 after buying an additional 12,929 shares during the last quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. grew its position in shares of Middleby by 40.2% during the 4th quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. now owns 65,972 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $8,936,000 after buying an additional 18,912 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank grew its position in shares of Middleby by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 23,034 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,120,000 after buying an additional 664 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Middleby during the 4th quarter valued at about $6,359,000. Institutional investors own 98.55% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Middleby from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, July 20th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price objective 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. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Middleby from $188.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. 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. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price 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. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $159.00.

Middleby Trading Up 0.1%

NASDAQ:MIDD opened at $136.26 on Wednesday. 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 Middleby Corporation has a 1-year low of $118.09 and a 1-year high of $182.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.34 and a beta of 1.58. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $141.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $145.56.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. Middleby had a return on equity of 14.14% and a net margin of 11.06%.The business had revenue of $977.86 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $979.59 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.39 EPS. Middleby's revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Middleby Corporation will post 9.11 earnings per share 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.

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