Lifeway Foods (NASDAQ:LWAY) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Lifeway Foods (NASDAQ:LWAY) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

LWAY has been the subject of several other research reports. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Lifeway Foods in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Lifeway Foods from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.00.

Lifeway Foods Price Performance

Shares of LWAY opened at $25.82 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 2.09. Lifeway Foods has a 52 week low of $17.31 and a 52 week high of $34.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $390.14 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.89 and a beta of 0.44. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $29.01 and a 200-day moving average of $25.06.

Lifeway Foods (NASDAQ:LWAY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The company reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.26 by ($0.25). Lifeway Foods had a net margin of 4.48% and a return on equity of 12.66%. The business had revenue of $66.89 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $61.40 million.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lifeway Foods

In other Lifeway Foods news, major shareholder Edward Smolyansky sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.45, for a total transaction of $1,908,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 894,793 shares in the company, valued at $22,772,481.85. This trade represents a 7.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Ludmila Smolyansky sold 100,000 shares of Lifeway Foods stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.11, for a total transaction of $3,011,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 507,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,272,002.77. The trade was a 16.47% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 592,698 shares of company stock worth $17,070,367. Corporate insiders own 18.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lifeway Foods

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd purchased a new stake in Lifeway Foods during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Larson Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Lifeway Foods during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in Lifeway Foods by 577.3% during the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,322 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Lifeway Foods in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its stake in Lifeway Foods by 302.0% in the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 2,967 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 2,229 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.