Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) vs. CNH Industrial (NYSE:CNH) Head-To-Head Analysis

CNH Industrial (NYSE:CNH) and Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership and valuation.

Profitability

This table compares CNH Industrial and Middleby’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
CNH Industrial	1.71%	6.78%	1.24%
Middleby	-13.22%	17.44%	7.66%

Valuation and Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
CNH Industrial	$18.09 billion	0.92	$510.00 million	$0.25	53.98
Middleby	$3.20 billion	1.59	-$277.73 million	($9.26)	-12.13

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

59.9% of CNH Industrial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.5% of Middleby shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of CNH Industrial shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 9.7% of Middleby shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for CNH Industrial and Middleby, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
CNH Industrial	2	5	8	0	2.40
Middleby	2	1	6	0	2.44

CNH Industrial currently has a consensus target price of $13.10, indicating a potential downside of 2.93%. Middleby has a consensus target price of $159.50, indicating a potential upside of 42.06%. Given Middleby’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Middleby is more favorable than CNH Industrial.

Volatility and Risk

CNH Industrial has a beta of 1.17, meaning that its share price is 17% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Middleby has a beta of 1.31, meaning that its share price is 31% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Middleby beats CNH Industrial on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About CNH Industrial

CNH Industrial NV is an equipment and services company, which develops, manufactures and sells specialized machines and services for the farming and construction industries, and supplies replacement parts and accessories. It operates through the following operating segments: Agriculture, Construction, and Financial Services. The Agriculture segment designs, manufactures, and distributes a full line of farm machinery and implements, including two-wheel and four-wheel drive tractors, crawler tractors, combines, grape and sugar cane harvesters, hay and forage equipment, planting and seeding equipment, soil preparation and cultivation implements and material handling equipment. The Construction segment comprises of a full line of construction equipment including excavators, crawler dozers, graders, wheel loaders, backhoe loaders, skid steer loaders, and compact track loaders. The Financial Services segment offers retail note and lease financing to end-use customers for the purchase of new and used agricultural and construction equipment and components. The company was founded in 1866 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

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. 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.