Lifeway Foods (NASDAQ:LWAY) Major Shareholder Buys $1,040,000.00 in Stock

Lifeway Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:LWAY) major shareholder Divisadero Street Capital Mana bought 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $20.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,040,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 2,451,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,997,273.60. This trade represents a 2.08% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Major shareholders that own at least 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

Divisadero Street Capital Mana also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, October 5th, Divisadero Street Capital Mana purchased 36,202 shares of Lifeway Foods stock. The stock was acquired at an average price of $21.01 per share, for a total transaction of $760,604.02.
• On Friday, October 2nd, Divisadero Street Capital Mana purchased 17,482 shares of Lifeway Foods stock. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $21.09 per share, with a total value of $368,695.38.
• On Monday, August 17th, Divisadero Street Capital Mana acquired 35,952 shares of Lifeway Foods stock. The shares were acquired at an average price of $24.78 per share, with a total value of $890,890.56.
• On Friday, August 14th, Divisadero Street Capital Mana acquired 15,000 shares of Lifeway Foods stock. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $24.69 per share, for a total transaction of $370,350.00.
• On Thursday, August 13th, Divisadero Street Capital Mana bought 195,616 shares of Lifeway Foods stock. The stock was acquired at an average price of $24.87 per share, for a total transaction of $4,864,969.92.

Lifeway Foods Stock Down 1.0%

NASDAQ LWAY opened at $21.09 on Friday. Lifeway Foods, Inc. has a 12 month low of $17.31 and a 12 month high of $32.71. The company has a market capitalization of $318.67 million, a P/E ratio of 30.13 and a beta of 0.47. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $25.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.47.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on LWAY. Weiss Ratings cut Lifeway Foods from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. BTIG Research assumed coverage on Lifeway Foods in a report on Thursday, August 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $32.00 target price for the company. Freedom Capital upgraded Lifeway Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Wall Street Zen cut Lifeway Foods from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 15th. Finally, Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of Lifeway Foods in a report on Monday, June 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $34.00.

Institutional Trading of Lifeway Foods

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Lifeway Foods in the second quarter valued at $26,000. State of Wyoming grew its holdings in shares of Lifeway Foods by 9.0% during the first quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 9,015 shares of the company’s stock valued at $174,000 after buying an additional 747 shares in the last quarter. Teton Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Lifeway Foods during the first quarter valued at $193,000. Carlson Capital L.P. acquired a new position in Lifeway Foods during the first quarter valued at $193,000. Finally, Vivaldi Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Lifeway Foods in the 1st quarter worth about $213,000. 36.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lifeway Foods Company Profile

Lifeway Foods, Inc is a food and beverage company that develops, manufactures, markets and distributes cultured and probiotic products. The company is best known for Lifeway Kefir, a fermented, cultured milk beverage available in a range of flavors and formulations, including low-fat, nonfat and lactose-free options.

Its product portfolio also includes ProBugs kefir for children, non-dairy kefir, drinkable yogurt, European-style farmer cheese, sour cream and other cultured dairy products.