Contrasting Wabash National (NYSE:WNC) & Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD)

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD – Get Free Report) and Wabash National (NYSE:WNC – Get Free Report) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, dividends, institutional ownership and earnings.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

98.5% of Middleby shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.0% of Wabash National shares are owned by institutional investors. 9.7% of Middleby shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.8% of Wabash National shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for Middleby and Wabash National, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

Middleby currently has a consensus target price of $158.25, suggesting a potential upside of 33.04%. Wabash National has a consensus target price of $23.33, suggesting a potential upside of 99.09%. Given Wabash National’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Wabash National is more favorable than Middleby.

Profitability

This table compares Middleby and Wabash National’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Volatility & Risk

Middleby has a beta of 1.32, suggesting that its share price is 32% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Wabash National has a beta of 1.48, suggesting that its share price is 48% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Middleby and Wabash National”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

Wabash National has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Middleby. Middleby is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Wabash National, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Middleby beats Wabash National on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Middleby

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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. The company's Food Processing Equipment Group segment provides batch, baking, proofing, conveyor belt, and continuous processing ovens; frying and automated thermal processing systems; tumblers, massagers, grinders, slicers, reduction and emulsion systems, mixers, and blenders; battering, breading, and seeding equipment; water cutting systems, food presses, food suspension equipment, filling and depositing solutions, and forming equipment; and automated washing systems, auto-guided vehicles, food safety, food handling, freezing, and defrosting and packaging equipment. Its Residential Kitchen Equipment Group segment offers kitchen equipment comprising cookers, stoves, cooktops, microwaves, ovens, refrigerators, dishwashers, undercounter refrigeration, wine cellars, ice machines, beer dispensers, mixers, rotisseries, and ventilation and outdoor cooking equipment. The company was formerly known as Middleby Marshall Oven Company and changed its name to The Middleby Corporation in 1985. The company was founded in 1888 and is based in Elgin, Illinois.

About Wabash National

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Wabash National Corporation provides connected solutions for the transportation, logistics, and distribution industries primarily in the United States. The company operates through two segments, Transportation Solutions and Parts & Services. The Transportation Solutions segment designs and manufactures transportation-related equipment and products dry and refrigerated van trailers, platform trailers, tank trailers, and truck-mounted tanks; truck bodies for dry-freight transportation; cargo and cargo XL bodies for commercial applications; refrigerated truck bodies; platform truck bodies; and used trailers, as well as laminated hardwood oak flooring products. The Parts & Services segment provides aftermarket parts and services; steel flatbed bodies, truck body mounting, shelving for package delivery, partitions, roof racks, hitches, liftgates, thermal solutions, and others; truck body repair parts; and door repair and replacement, collision repair, and basic maintenance services. It also develops and scales a digital marketplace for the transportation and logistics distribution industry; operates a parts and services distribution platform; and stainless steel storage tanks and silos, mixers, and processors for the dairy, food and beverage, pharmaceutical, chemical, craft brewing, and biotech markets; trailers as a service; and composite products, including truck bodies, overhead doors, and other industrial application products, as well as used trailers. The company offers its products under the Wabash, DuraPlate, DuraPlateHD, DuraPlate AeroSkirt, and AeroSkirt CX brands, as well as EcoNex brand. It serves its products to truckload common carriers, leasing companies, private fleet carriers, less-than-truckload common carriers, and package carriers. Wabash National Corporation was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Lafayette, Indiana.