JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) Stock Price

Key Points

• JPMorgan Chase & Co. has lowered its price target for Middleby from $145.00 to $125.00, maintaining an "underweight" rating on the stock.
• Middleby's recent quarterly earnings showed an EPS of $2.35, exceeding expectations by $0.15, despite a 1.4% year-over-year revenue decline.
• Insider transactions have seen significant buying, with a director purchasing $20.28 million worth of shares, indicating continued confidence in the company's future.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD - Free Report) had its target price decreased by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $145.00 to $125.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an underweight rating on the industrial products company's stock.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on MIDD. Barclays decreased their target price on Middleby from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Middleby from $188.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price objective on Middleby from $200.00 to $186.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Middleby from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, July 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Middleby currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $159.00.

Middleby Stock Performance

MIDD stock traded down $0.46 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $119.71. The stock had a trading volume of 1,252,786 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,060,553. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.23 and a beta of 1.58. Middleby has a 52 week low of $118.09 and a 52 week high of $182.73. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $144.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $148.49. The company has a current ratio of 2.57, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $977.86 million during 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.39 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Middleby will post 9.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Middleby news, Director Edward P. Garden acquired 137,000 shares of Middleby stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $148.03 per share, with a total value of $20,280,110.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 3,276,834 shares of the company's stock, valued at $485,069,737.02. This represents a 4.36% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders bought 437,910 shares of company stock valued at $65,243,811 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 6.18% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Middleby

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. TCTC Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Middleby by 116.7% during the first quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 169 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new stake in Middleby in the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in Middleby by 168.8% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 207 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. AdvisorShares Investments LLC bought a new stake in Middleby in the second quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in Middleby by 760.0% in the first 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 in the last quarter. 98.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.