Versor Investments LP Buys New Shares in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD)

Versor Investments LP purchased a new position in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 2,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $348,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MIDD. Select Equity Group L.P. raised its holdings in Middleby by 15.4% during the second quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 6,360,288 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $779,835,000 after acquiring an additional 846,884 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Middleby by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,113,286 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $822,165,000 after buying an additional 15,798 shares in the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Middleby by 1.0% during the first quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,998,522 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $321,342,000 after buying an additional 20,511 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Middleby by 0.8% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,450,221 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $233,182,000 after acquiring an additional 11,552 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Middleby by 11,853.1% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 967,365 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $118,609,000 after acquiring an additional 959,272 shares in the last quarter. 98.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Middleby Trading Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ MIDD opened at $136.00 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $7.32 billion, a PE ratio of 18.76 and a beta of 1.58. The Middleby Co. has a 12 month low of $118.41 and a 12 month high of $161.01. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $136.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $133.45. The company has a current ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.48 by ($0.15). Middleby had a return on equity of 14.66% and a net margin of 10.14%. The company had revenue of $942.81 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $996.60 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.35 earnings per share. Middleby’s revenue was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that The Middleby Co. will post 9.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Middleby from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price objective on Middleby from $164.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Middleby from $155.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $164.00 price target on shares of Middleby in a research report on Saturday, September 14th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Middleby from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Middleby has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $154.67.

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.