Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Saturday.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $180.00 price objective (up previously from $165.00) on shares of Middleby in a report on Monday, October 20th. Wolfe Research set a $163.00 price target on Middleby and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Middleby in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research raised shares of Middleby from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Middleby from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $140.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Friday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $162.29.

Middleby Price Performance

Middleby stock opened at $123.16 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.67 and a beta of 1.57. Middleby has a 12-month low of $114.57 and a 12-month high of $182.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 2.57 and a quick ratio of 1.56. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $132.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $138.80.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.34. Middleby had a net margin of 11.06% and a return on equity of 14.14%. The business had revenue of $982.13 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $961.21 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.33 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Middleby has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.990-9.140 EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at 2.190-2.340 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Middleby will post 9.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Middleby

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Middleby during the 3rd quarter worth $679,000. Vulcan Value Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Middleby by 141.4% during the third quarter. Vulcan Value Partners LLC now owns 70,624 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,388,000 after purchasing an additional 41,373 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Middleby by 481.1% in the third quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 26,642 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,542,000 after buying an additional 22,057 shares during the period. SG Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Middleby in the third quarter valued at about $55,260,000. Finally, NewEdge Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Middleby by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 2,671 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $330,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.55% of the company’s stock.

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.