JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Positive Forecast for Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) Stock Price

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) had its price target increased by stock analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $145.00 to $150.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “underweight” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target points to a potential downside of 10.52% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective (down from $170.00) on shares of Middleby in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on Middleby from $155.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Middleby from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Middleby from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Middleby from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $179.71.

Middleby Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MIDD traded down $1.62 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $167.64. The stock had a trading volume of 200,174 shares, compared to its average volume of 846,850. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $151.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $143.00. The stock has a market cap of $9.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.14 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a current ratio of 2.81. Middleby has a twelve month low of $118.41 and a twelve month high of $182.73.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.50 by $0.38. Middleby had a return on equity of 14.66% and a net margin of 10.14%. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $996.69 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.65 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Middleby will post 9.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Middleby

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Middleby by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,260,935 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $712,594,000 after buying an additional 21,771 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Middleby by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,895,553 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $256,753,000 after purchasing an additional 35,449 shares in the last quarter. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Middleby by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,866,359 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $252,798,000 after purchasing an additional 53,276 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Middleby by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,311,966 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $177,706,000 after purchasing an additional 47,443 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Middleby by 4,494.8% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,266,327 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $171,524,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238,767 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.