Lifeway Foods (NASDAQ:LWAY) Major Shareholder Sells 38,452 Shares

Lifeway Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:LWAY) major shareholder Edward Smolyansky sold 38,452 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.85, for a total transaction of $1,147,792.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 1,014,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,273,571.50. The trade was a 3.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Large shareholders that own 10% or more of a company’s shares are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

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

• 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 Price Performance

Shares of Lifeway Foods stock traded down $0.91 on Friday, hitting $29.42. The company had a trading volume of 482,721 shares, compared to its average volume of 95,436. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.14 and a quick ratio of 1.56. The company has a market cap of $449.54 million, a PE ratio of 30.33 and a beta of 0.48. Lifeway Foods, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.31 and a 52 week high of $34.20.

Lifeway Foods (NASDAQ:LWAY) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The company reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.30. The firm had revenue of $63.01 million for 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 Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on LWAY shares. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Lifeway Foods in a report on Monday, June 15th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Lifeway Foods from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Lifeway Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.33.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Divisadero Street Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Lifeway Foods in the third quarter worth approximately $17,494,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Lifeway Foods by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 235,710 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,558,000 after purchasing an additional 19,035 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL grew its position in Lifeway Foods by 33.5% during the 1st quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 214,650 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,151,000 after purchasing an additional 53,900 shares in the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL raised its stake in Lifeway Foods by 73.0% during the 4th quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 163,361 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,958,000 after purchasing an additional 68,956 shares during the period. Finally, Slotnik Capital LLC raised its stake in Lifeway Foods by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. Slotnik Capital LLC now owns 141,761 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,935,000 after purchasing an additional 11,921 shares during the period. 36.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Lifeway Foods

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.