Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) Earns Outperform Rating from Analysts at Wolfe Research

Key Points

• Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) has been upgraded to a "strong-buy" rating by Wolfe Research, indicating increasing analyst confidence in the company's prospects.
• Despite the positive upgrade, other analysts have set varying target prices and ratings, with Robert W. Baird lowering their target from $188.00 to $162.00 and Zacks Research giving a "strong sell" rating.
• In its latest earnings report, Middleby posted $2.35 earnings per share, exceeding expectations, but experienced a 1.4% year-over-year decline in revenue.

Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD - Free Report) in a report released on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm issued an outperform rating and a $163.00 price target on the industrial products company's stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Middleby from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, July 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Middleby from $145.00 to $125.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on Middleby from $162.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Zacks Research raised Middleby to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased 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. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $161.13.

Middleby Stock Performance

Shares of Middleby stock traded down $0.79 on Thursday, hitting $137.89. The stock had a trading volume of 128,839 shares, compared to its average volume of 904,012. The company's 50 day moving average price is $140.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $143.55. The stock has a market cap of $6.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.59 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a current ratio of 2.57, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Middleby has a 52-week low of $118.09 and a 52-week high of $182.73.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Middleby

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of MIDD. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Middleby by 59.8% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,029,484 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $460,422,000 after acquiring an additional 1,133,931 shares in the last quarter. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Middleby by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,866,359 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $252,798,000 after acquiring an additional 53,276 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its position in Middleby by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,319,757 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $200,577,000 after acquiring an additional 7,791 shares in the last quarter. Garden Investment Management L.P. acquired a new position in Middleby during the 4th quarter worth approximately $101,958,000. Finally, Clarkston Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Middleby by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC now owns 692,764 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $99,758,000 after acquiring an additional 4,204 shares in the last quarter. 98.55% of the stock is currently 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.