Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) Cut to "Hold" at Wall Street Zen

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued on Sunday.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on MIDD. KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of Middleby from $185.00 to $175.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Middleby from $188.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price objective on shares of Middleby from $200.00 to $186.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $168.14.

Middleby Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:MIDD traded down $0.89 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $146.48. 504,527 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 749,364. The firm has a market cap of $7.86 billion, a PE ratio of 18.31 and a beta of 1.57. Middleby has a fifty-two week low of $121.70 and a fifty-two week high of $182.73. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $146.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $148.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $906.63 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $941.46 million. Middleby had a net margin of 11.26% and a return on equity of 14.47%. The company's revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.89 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Middleby will post 9.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Edward P. Garden acquired 249,339 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $149.59 per share, for a total transaction of $37,298,621.01. Following the acquisition, the director owned 3,088,263 shares of the company's stock, valued at $461,973,262.17. This trade represents a 8.78% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In the last three months, insiders have acquired 640,968 shares of company stock valued at $93,495,270. 6.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Middleby

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Middleby by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,604 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $244,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Middleby by 23.7% in the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 418 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its holdings in shares of Middleby by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 7,167 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $971,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Middleby by 116.7% in the first quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 169 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Middleby by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 3,472 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $470,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. 98.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.