Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

Several other research analysts have also commented on MIDD. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Middleby in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of Middleby from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Middleby from $185.00 to $151.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Barclays set a $155.00 price target on shares of Middleby and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of Middleby in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 price objective on the stock. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $169.50.

Middleby Price Performance

Middleby stock opened at $134.50 on Friday. Middleby has a 52 week low of $110.82 and a 52 week high of $180.13. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $150.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $149.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market cap of $6.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.86 and a beta of 1.32.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $839.91 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $777.19 million. Middleby had a positive return on equity of 15.94% and a negative net margin of 11.46%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.08 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Middleby will post 9.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Middleby

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MIDD. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Middleby during the second quarter valued at approximately $122,000. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Middleby in the second quarter worth $676,035,000. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new position in shares of Middleby in the second quarter worth $1,153,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Middleby during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Persistent Asset Partners Ltd bought a new stake in Middleby during the 2nd quarter valued at $63,000. Institutional investors own 98.55% of the company’s stock.

Middleby Company Profile

Middleby Corporation is a global manufacturer and distributor of commercial foodservice and food processing equipment. The company designs, engineers and markets a wide range of cooking, baking, refrigeration, warewashing, holding and dispensing solutions. Middleby’s products serve restaurants, hotels, convenience stores, institutional cafeterias, cruise ships and other foodservice operators.

The company’s portfolio spans multiple well-known brands, including Blodgett ovens, TurboChef rapid?cook ovens, Southbend ranges and broilers, Pitco fryers, and Viking residential and commercial kitchen appliances.