Balefire LLC Buys New Position in The Middleby Corporation $MIDD

Balefire LLC bought a new stake in The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ:MIDD) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 12,588 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,673,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new stake in Middleby during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in shares of Middleby by 168.8% in the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 207 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorShares Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Middleby in the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,000. Abound Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Middleby by 157.5% during the second quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 309 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH acquired a new stake in shares of Middleby during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $47,000. 98.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert A. Nerbonne bought 780 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 9th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $128.52 per share, for a total transaction of $100,245.60. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 21,471 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,759,452.92. This represents a 3.77% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 6.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MIDD. Barclays set a $168.00 price objective on shares of Middleby and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on Middleby from $171.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 5th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Middleby in a report on Friday, December 5th. Wolfe Research set a $163.00 price objective on Middleby and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Middleby in a research note on Monday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Middleby presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $161.33.

Middleby Price Performance

Shares of MIDD opened at $144.25 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $126.92 and its 200-day moving average is $135.52. The company has a market capitalization of $7.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -32.78 and a beta of 1.39. The Middleby Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $110.82 and a fifty-two week high of $182.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.34. Middleby had a negative net margin of 5.22% and a positive return on equity of 14.66%. The business had revenue of $982.13 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $961.21 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.33 earnings per share. Middleby’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Middleby has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.990-9.140 EPS and its Q4 2025 guidance at 2.190-2.340 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that The Middleby Corporation will post 9.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.