Lifeway Foods (NASDAQ:LWAY) Lowered to “Sell” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Lifeway Foods (NASDAQ:LWAY) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of Lifeway Foods in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Weiss Ratings lowered Lifeway Foods from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.00.

Lifeway Foods Stock Up 4.5%

Shares of NASDAQ LWAY opened at $25.82 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $29.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.03. The company has a market cap of $394.58 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.89 and a beta of 0.44. 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 has a 12-month low of $17.31 and a 12-month high of $34.20.

Lifeway Foods (NASDAQ:LWAY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 13th. The company reported $0.01 earnings per share 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 12.60%. The company had revenue of $66.89 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $61.40 million.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Ludmila Smolyansky sold 100,000 shares of Lifeway Foods stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.11, for a total transaction of $3,011,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 507,207 shares in the company, valued at $15,272,002.77. The trade was a 16.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Edward Smolyansky sold 111,548 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.26, for a total transaction of $3,263,894.48. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 902,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,411,304.92. This trade represents a 11.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 592,698 shares of company stock worth $17,070,367 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 18.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lifeway Foods

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LWAY. Strs Ohio bought a new position in shares of Lifeway Foods in the 1st quarter worth $90,000. Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in Lifeway Foods by 8.2% during the first 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Lifeway Foods by 6.6% in the second 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 in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Lifeway Foods by 293.6% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in Lifeway Foods by 6.8% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 17,178 shares of the company’s stock worth $423,000 after purchasing an additional 1,091 shares during the period. 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.