Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) Reaches New 1-Year Low – Time to Sell?

Shares of The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ:MIDD) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $118.03 and last traded at $123.48, with a volume of 1540162 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $122.12.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on MIDD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Middleby from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Middleby from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 20th. Zacks Research raised shares of Middleby from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on Middleby from $162.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, Wolfe Research set a $163.00 price target on Middleby and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $165.00.

Middleby Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $6.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.71 and a beta of 1.57. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $134.10 and a 200 day moving average of $138.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 2.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 company 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 business’s revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.39 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that The Middleby Corporation will post 9.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Middleby

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 1,133,931 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 7,791 shares during the period. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 4,204 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in shares of Middleby by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 680,688 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $98,019,000 after buying an additional 26,022 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Middleby by 27.0% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 621,794 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $89,538,000 after acquiring an additional 132,191 shares during the period. 98.55% of the stock is currently 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.