Short Interest in The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ:MIDD) Declines By 23.0%

Key Points

• The Middleby Corporation experienced a significant decline in short interest, dropping 23.0% in August to a total of 2,950,000 shares.
• For the last quarter, Middleby reported earnings of $2.35 per share, exceeding analysts' estimates, with a revenue of $977.86 million, down 1.4% year-over-year.
• Brokerages have mixed ratings on Middleby, with consensus rating at "Hold" and target price of $161.13, while several institutions have increased their stakes in the company.

The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ:MIDD - Get Free Report) saw a significant drop in short interest in August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totaling 2,950,000 shares, a drop of 23.0% from the July 31st total of 3,830,000 shares. Approximately 5.9% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 916,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.2 days. Based on an average trading volume of 916,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.2 days. Approximately 5.9% of the company's shares are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Middleby

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Middleby by 59.8% in the first 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 buying an additional 1,133,931 shares in the last quarter. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Middleby by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,866,359 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $252,798,000 after buying an additional 53,276 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC raised its stake in Middleby by 0.6% in the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,319,757 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $200,577,000 after buying an additional 7,791 shares in the last quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Middleby by 0.6% in the second quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC now owns 692,764 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $99,758,000 after buying an additional 4,204 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of Middleby by 4.0% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 680,688 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $98,019,000 after purchasing an additional 26,022 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.55% of the company's stock.

Middleby Trading Down 3.0%

Shares of NASDAQ MIDD traded down $4.19 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $134.59. The stock had a trading volume of 522,046 shares, compared to its average volume of 759,699. The company has a current ratio of 2.57, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market cap of $6.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.12 and a beta of 1.54. The business's fifty day moving average price is $139.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $142.92. Middleby has a 52-week low of $118.09 and a 52-week high of $182.73.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD - Get Free Report) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $977.86 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $979.59 million. Middleby had a return on equity of 14.14% and a net margin of 11.06%.Middleby's quarterly revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.39 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Middleby will post 9.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MIDD has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research set a $163.00 target price on Middleby and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Zacks Research upgraded Middleby to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on Middleby from $162.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Barclays dropped 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Middleby from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, July 20th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $161.13.

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.