Lifeway Foods (NASDAQ:LWAY) Major Shareholder Sells $67,367,742.00 in Stock

Lifeway Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:LWAY) major shareholder S.A. Danone sold 3,454,756 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.50, for a total value of $67,367,742.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Large shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s shares are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

Lifeway Foods Stock Performance

Shares of LWAY opened at $25.17 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.14, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company has a market capitalization of $384.60 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.95 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $23.46 and a 200 day moving average of $22.99. Lifeway Foods, Inc. has a 12 month low of $17.31 and a 12 month high of $34.20.

Lifeway Foods (NASDAQ:LWAY) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30. Lifeway Foods had a return on equity of 17.76% and a net margin of 6.54%.The business had revenue of $63.01 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.80 million.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LWAY has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Lifeway Foods from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Lifeway Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lifeway Foods has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $34.33.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LWAY. Strs Ohio bought a new position in Lifeway Foods during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $90,000. Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in Lifeway Foods by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 6,068 shares of the company’s stock valued at $148,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Lifeway Foods by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 124,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,075,000 after purchasing an additional 7,718 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Lifeway Foods by 293.6% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 13,472 shares of the company’s stock valued at $332,000 after purchasing an additional 10,049 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in Lifeway Foods by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 17,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $423,000 after purchasing an additional 1,091 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 36.39% of the company’s stock.

Lifeway Foods Company Profile

Lifeway Foods, Inc (NASDAQ: LWAY) is a Chicago-based food company specializing in probiotic-rich cultured dairy products. Established in 1986 by Michael Smolyansky, the company pioneered the introduction of kefir to the U.S. market. Under the leadership of CEO Julie Smolyansky, who succeeded her father in 2002, Lifeway has grown from a single product operation into a diversified portfolio of fermented foods and beverages aimed at promoting digestive health and wellness.

The company’s flagship product is kefir, a cultured milk beverage naturally rich in probiotics, vitamins and minerals.