Canaccord Genuity Group Reaffirms “Buy” Rating for Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD)

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by analysts at Canaccord Genuity Group in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $155.00 target price on the industrial products company’s stock. Canaccord Genuity Group’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 15.05% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on MIDD. StockNews.com upgraded Middleby from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $160.00 price target (down from $170.00) on shares of Middleby in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $164.00 price objective on shares of Middleby in a research report on Saturday, September 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Middleby presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $154.67.

Middleby Stock Performance

MIDD opened at $134.72 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Middleby has a 52-week low of $118.41 and a 52-week high of $161.01. The company has a market cap of $7.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.58 and a beta of 1.60. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $138.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $134.69.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.48 by ($0.15). Middleby had a return on equity of 14.66% and a net margin of 10.14%. The firm had revenue of $942.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $996.60 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.35 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Middleby will post 9.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Middleby

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Middleby by 11,853.1% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 967,365 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $118,609,000 after buying an additional 959,272 shares during the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Middleby by 15.4% in the 2nd quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 6,360,288 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $779,835,000 after acquiring an additional 846,884 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Middleby by 43.7% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 903,346 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $110,768,000 after acquiring an additional 274,513 shares in the last quarter. Ariel Investments LLC lifted its stake in Middleby by 58.0% during the second quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 510,127 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $62,547,000 after purchasing an additional 187,304 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Middleby by 30.6% in the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 713,618 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $87,497,000 after purchasing an additional 167,298 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.55% of the company’s stock.

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.