Lifeway Foods (NASDAQ:LWAY) Stock: Insider Edward Smolyansky Sells 30,000 Shares

Lifeway Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:LWAY) major shareholder Edward Smolyansky sold 30,000 shares of Lifeway Foods stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.64, for a total value of $679,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 864,793 shares in the company, valued at $19,578,913.52. This represents a 3.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Major shareholders that own at least 10% of a company’s shares are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

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

• On Wednesday, August 12th, Edward Smolyansky sold 35,000 shares of Lifeway Foods stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.74, for a total value of $1,005,900.00.
• On Friday, August 14th, Edward Smolyansky sold 75,000 shares of Lifeway Foods stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.45, for a total value of $1,908,750.00.

Lifeway Foods Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of LWAY opened at $22.09 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $24.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.89. Lifeway Foods, Inc. has a one year low of $17.31 and a one year high of $32.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 2.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $333.78 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.73 and a beta of 0.47.

Lifeway Foods (NASDAQ:LWAY) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). Lifeway Foods had a net margin of 4.48% and a return on equity of 12.66%. The firm had revenue of $66.89 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $61.40 million.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lifeway Foods

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Lifeway Foods in the 2nd quarter worth $17,459,000. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Lifeway Foods during the 2nd quarter valued at about $9,614,000. Pillsbury Lake Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lifeway Foods during the 2nd quarter valued at about $8,704,597. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Lifeway Foods by 8.8% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 235,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,558,000 after acquiring an additional 19,035 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AWM Investment Company Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lifeway Foods in the second quarter valued at about $6,654,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.39% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

About Lifeway Foods

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.