Lifeway Foods (NASDAQ:LWAY) Major Shareholder Sells 111,548 Shares

Lifeway Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:LWAY) major shareholder Edward Smolyansky sold 111,548 shares of Lifeway Foods stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.26, for a total value of $3,263,894.48. Following the transaction, the insider owned 902,642 shares in the company, valued at $26,411,304.92. This trade represents a 11.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Major shareholders that own at least 10% of a company’s shares are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

Edward Smolyansky also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, June 30th, Edward Smolyansky sold 50,000 shares of Lifeway Foods stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.56, for a total transaction of $1,478,000.00.
• On Wednesday, June 24th, Edward Smolyansky sold 38,452 shares of Lifeway Foods stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.85, for a total transaction of $1,147,792.20.
• On Monday, June 22nd, Edward Smolyansky sold 50,000 shares of Lifeway Foods stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.20, for a total transaction of $1,310,000.00.
• On Friday, May 15th, Edward Smolyansky sold 24,000 shares of Lifeway Foods stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.87, for a total transaction of $596,880.00.
• On Thursday, May 14th, Edward Smolyansky sold 25,000 shares of Lifeway Foods stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.34, for a total transaction of $633,500.00.

Lifeway Foods Stock Up 5.1%

LWAY traded up $1.49 during trading on Thursday, hitting $30.94. The company had a trading volume of 130,518 shares, compared to its average volume of 193,614. The company has a market capitalization of $472.76 million, a PE ratio of 31.90 and a beta of 0.45. Lifeway Foods, Inc. has a one year low of $17.31 and a one year high of $34.20. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $25.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $23.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 2.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

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. The firm had revenue of $63.01 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.80 million. Lifeway Foods had a return on equity of 17.76% and a net margin of 6.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on LWAY. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Lifeway Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 21st. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of Lifeway Foods in a report on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Lifeway Foods from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lifeway Foods has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $34.33.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Divisadero Street Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Lifeway Foods in the 3rd quarter valued at $17,494,000. Slotnik Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Lifeway Foods by 9.2% in the third quarter. Slotnik Capital LLC now owns 141,761 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,935,000 after acquiring an additional 11,921 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL grew its stake in shares of Lifeway Foods by 1.2% in the third quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 151,350 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,201,000 after acquiring an additional 1,800 shares in the last quarter. Teton Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Lifeway Foods in the 3rd quarter worth about $225,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd grew its position in shares of Lifeway Foods by 40.2% during the 1st quarter. R Squared Ltd now owns 15,381 shares of the company’s stock worth $297,000 after purchasing an additional 4,413 shares in the last quarter. 36.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.