Fifth Third Bancorp Lowers Stock Holdings in The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD)

Fifth Third Bancorp decreased its holdings in shares of The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) by 29.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 12,678 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 5,247 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Middleby were worth $1,717,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MIDD. Quarry LP increased its stake in shares of Middleby by 133.3% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 231 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its position in shares of Middleby by 306.5% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 252 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Middleby by 820.0% in the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 322 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Middleby by 91.8% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 489 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Middleby from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on Middleby from $155.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective (down previously from $170.00) on shares of Middleby in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Middleby from $157.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Middleby from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $174.67.

Middleby Stock Performance

Shares of MIDD stock opened at $172.89 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $140.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $138.12. The company has a market cap of $9.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.85 and a beta of 1.61. The Middleby Co. has a 12-month low of $118.41 and a 12-month high of $177.90.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.48 by ($0.15). The business had revenue of $942.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $996.60 million. Middleby had a return on equity of 14.66% and a net margin of 10.14%. The company’s revenue was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.35 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Middleby Co. will post 9.12 EPS for the current 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.