AYAL Capital Advisors Ltd Purchases New Shares in The Middleby Corporation $MIDD

AYAL Capital Advisors Ltd purchased a new stake in The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ:MIDD) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 44,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,541,000. Middleby comprises about 2.3% of AYAL Capital Advisors Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. AYAL Capital Advisors Ltd owned approximately 0.09% of Middleby as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Middleby by 49.2% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,772,249 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $858,161,000 after buying an additional 1,902,957 shares during the last quarter. Garden Investment Management L.P. raised its position in Middleby by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Garden Investment Management L.P. now owns 3,379,737 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $502,466,000 after buying an additional 102,903 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Middleby by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,153,171 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $320,112,000 after buying an additional 75,047 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Middleby by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,486,120 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $220,950,000 after purchasing an additional 58,696 shares during the period. Finally, Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Middleby by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,461,810 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $194,318,000 after purchasing an additional 59,050 shares during the period. 98.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MIDD has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Middleby from $150.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Middleby in a research note on Wednesday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 price target for the company. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price target (up from $168.00) on shares of Middleby in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Middleby in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price target on Middleby from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $191.63.

Middleby Stock Performance

Shares of MIDD opened at $164.77 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $149.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $148.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -19.43 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.96. The Middleby Corporation has a 52-week low of $110.82 and a 52-week high of $170.73.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.22. Middleby had a positive return on equity of 15.94% and a negative net margin of 11.46%.The business had revenue of $839.91 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $777.19 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.08 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. Middleby has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.540-9.700 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.270-2.390 EPS. Research analysts forecast that The Middleby Corporation will post 9.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.