New Age Alpha Advisors LLC Acquires New Position in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD)

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,901 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $257,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MIDD. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Middleby by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. now owns 24,535 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,323,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Middleby by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 566 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $77,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in shares of Middleby by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,651 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $224,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Middleby by 1.4% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 6,259 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $871,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Middleby by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 3,472 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $470,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. 98.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Chapin Sarah Palisi sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.51, for a total value of $81,755.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $999,209.61. This represents a 7.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Middleby Price Performance

Shares of MIDD stock opened at $152.73 on Wednesday. The Middleby Co. has a fifty-two week low of $118.41 and a fifty-two week high of $182.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a current ratio of 2.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.07 and a beta of 1.72. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $161.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $146.47.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.50 by $0.38. Middleby had a net margin of 10.14% and a return on equity of 14.66%. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $996.69 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.65 EPS. Middleby’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Middleby Co. will post 9.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on MIDD shares. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Middleby from $157.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Middleby from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Middleby from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Middleby from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Middleby from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $180.86.

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.