Fruth Investment Management Sells 1,415 Shares of The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD)

Fruth Investment Management lessened its stake in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) by 7.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 16,435 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,415 shares during the period. Fruth Investment Management’s holdings in Middleby were worth $2,286,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Middleby in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of Middleby by 1,246.2% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 175 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its position in shares of Middleby by 133.3% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 231 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Middleby by 97.7% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 255 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of Middleby by 93.2% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 282 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.55% of the company’s stock.

Middleby Stock Up 3.4 %

MIDD stock opened at $137.80 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $137.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $134.91. The Middleby Co. has a fifty-two week low of $109.59 and a fifty-two week high of $161.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 2.50. The company has a market cap of $7.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.19 and a beta of 1.58.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.08. Middleby had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 9.90%. The business had revenue of $991.55 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $994.05 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.47 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that The Middleby Co. will post 9.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on MIDD. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $164.00 price target on shares of Middleby in a research report on Saturday, September 14th. Raymond James started coverage on Middleby in a research report on Friday, June 28th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Middleby from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on Middleby from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $164.00 price objective on shares of Middleby in a research note on Friday, September 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $156.71.

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.