Middleby price target raised to $185 from $160 at KeyBanc

KeyBanc raised the firm’s price target on Middleby (MIDD) to $185 from $160 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares. The firm notes the Wall Street Journal has reported that Ed Garden, Chairman and CEO of Garden Investments and former CIO of Trian Fund Management, has built a nearly 5% activist position in Middleby. KeyBanc has viewed Middleby as a potential activist candidate for over a year, and feels Garden is a credible investor that current shareholders are likely to support as a change agent. In general, it thinks Garden’s preliminary plan of focusing on CFS, reviewing Residential, and a refined capital allocation strategy is sound. All in, the firm views this as the needed catalyst for shares/valuation in a name that has underperformed.