Lifeway Foods (NASDAQ:LWAY) Major Shareholder Divisadero Street Capital Mana Buys 50,000 Shares of Company Stock

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

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

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

Lifeway Foods Stock Down 2.6%

Shares of NASDAQ LWAY traded down $0.54 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $20.46. 173,192 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 156,414. The firm has a market capitalization of $309.15 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.23 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.73. Lifeway Foods, Inc. has a twelve month low of $17.31 and a twelve month high of $32.71.

Lifeway Foods (NASDAQ:LWAY) last released 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 12.66%. The business had revenue of $66.89 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $61.40 million.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lifeway Foods

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LWAY. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in Lifeway Foods during the second quarter worth about $17,459,000. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Lifeway Foods in the second quarter valued at approximately $9,614,000. Pillsbury Lake Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lifeway Foods in the second quarter valued at approximately $8,704,597. AWM Investment Company Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lifeway Foods during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,654,000. Finally, HBK Investments L P acquired a new position in shares of Lifeway Foods during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,476,000. 36.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.