Lifeway Foods (NASDAQ:LWAY) Major Shareholder Divisadero Street Capital Mana Purchases 35,952 Shares

Lifeway Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:LWAY) major shareholder Divisadero Street Capital Mana bought 35,952 shares of Lifeway Foods stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $24.78 per share, with a total value of $890,890.56. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 2,348,108 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,186,116.24. The trade was a 1.55% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Large shareholders that own 10% or more of a company’s shares are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

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

• On Friday, August 14th, Divisadero Street Capital Mana purchased 15,000 shares of Lifeway Foods stock. The shares were bought at an average cost of $24.69 per share, with a total value of $370,350.00.
• On Thursday, August 13th, Divisadero Street Capital Mana purchased 195,616 shares of Lifeway Foods stock. The stock was bought at an average price of $24.87 per share, with a total value of $4,864,969.92.

Lifeway Foods Trading Down 4.1%

LWAY opened at $24.75 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $373.97 million, a PE ratio of 35.36 and a beta of 0.44. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $29.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $25.07. 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, Inc. 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 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by ($0.25). The company had revenue of $66.89 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $61.40 million. Lifeway Foods had a net margin of 4.48% and a return on equity of 12.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LWAY has been the subject of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded Lifeway Foods from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Thursday. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of Lifeway Foods in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Lifeway Foods from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lifeway Foods

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position 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 during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $8,704,597,000. AWM Investment Company Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Lifeway Foods in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,654,000. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in shares of Lifeway Foods in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,984,000. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its position in Lifeway Foods by 260.4% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 101,311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,812,000 after purchasing an additional 73,203 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 36.39% of the company’s stock.

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.