Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) Rating Lowered to Hold at Wall Street Zen

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

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Middleby from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Middleby from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Middleby from $159.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $187.00 price objective on shares of Middleby and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Middleby from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.17.

Middleby Stock Down 3.5%

Shares of NASDAQ MIDD opened at $150.78 on Friday. Middleby has a 12-month low of $110.82 and a 12-month high of $169.44. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $155.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $140.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.11 billion, a PE ratio of -26.31 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 2.57, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The industrial products company reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.27 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $334.59 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. Middleby had a positive return on equity of 14.57% and a negative net margin of 7.44%.The company’s revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.88 earnings per share. Middleby has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.200-9.360 EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.900-2.020 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Middleby will post 9.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Middleby news, Director Robert A. Nerbonne acquired 780 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 9th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $128.52 per share, with a total value of $100,245.60. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 21,471 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,759,452.92. The trade was a 3.77% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 6.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Middleby

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Middleby by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC now owns 692,764 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $99,758,000 after purchasing an additional 4,204 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Middleby in the 2nd quarter valued at about $478,000. Olstein Capital Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Middleby by 34.2% in the third quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 57,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,577,000 after acquiring an additional 14,538 shares in the last quarter. Vestor Capital LLC boosted its stake in Middleby by 268.0% during the 2nd quarter. Vestor Capital LLC now owns 3,680 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $530,000 after purchasing an additional 2,680 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC acquired a new position in Middleby during the third quarter worth about $11,701,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.55% of the company’s stock.

About Middleby

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.