Retirement Systems of Alabama Acquires 207 Shares of The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD)

Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its position in shares of The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 67,136 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 207 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned 0.13% of Middleby worth $9,880,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Middleby by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,696,476 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $251,621,000 after buying an additional 198,859 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of Middleby by 38.1% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 489,130 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $62,566,000 after buying an additional 134,978 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Middleby by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 322,418 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $41,270,000 after buying an additional 4,363 shares during the last quarter. Ariel Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Middleby by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 294,043 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $37,638,000 after buying an additional 3,625 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Middleby by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 242,397 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,041,000 after buying an additional 6,548 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.55% of the company’s stock.

Middleby Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MIDD opened at $138.87 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.74 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $150.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $139.65. The Middleby Co. has a twelve month low of $109.59 and a twelve month high of $161.01.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The industrial products company reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. Middleby had a return on equity of 16.99% and a net margin of 9.93%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.57 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Middleby Co. will post 10.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Chapin Sarah Palisi sold 350 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.47, for a total transaction of $53,014.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,306 shares in the company, valued at approximately $955,169.82. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Chapin Sarah Palisi sold 350 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.47, for a total transaction of $53,014.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,306 shares in the company, valued at approximately $955,169.82. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Cathy L. Mccarthy sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.12, for a total value of $153,120.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,971 shares in the company, valued at $1,220,519.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.16% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MIDD. TheStreet raised Middleby from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on Middleby from $164.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Middleby from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $159.38.

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.