Wellington Management Group LLP Purchases New Position in Lifeway Foods, Inc. $LWAY

Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in shares of Lifeway Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:LWAY) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 585,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,459,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of LWAY. Pillsbury Lake Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Lifeway Foods in the second quarter valued at approximately $8,704,597. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in shares of Lifeway Foods during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,140,000. Man Group plc purchased a new position in shares of Lifeway Foods during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $705,000. AWM Investment Company Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Lifeway Foods during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $6,654,000. Finally, De Lisle Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Lifeway Foods in the 2nd quarter worth $1,814,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.39% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lifeway Foods

In related news, major shareholder Edward Smolyansky sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.45, for a total transaction of $1,908,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 894,793 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,772,481.85. The trade was a 7.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Ludmila Smolyansky sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider directly owned 507,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,272,002.77. This represents a 16.47% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have acquired 248,568 shares of company stock valued at $6,176,730 and have sold 592,698 shares valued at $17,070,367. Insiders own 18.58% of the company’s stock.

Lifeway Foods Price Performance

NASDAQ LWAY opened at $25.01 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $28.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.48. Lifeway Foods, Inc. has a one year low of $17.31 and a one year high of $34.20. 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 company has a market cap of $377.90 million, a P/E ratio of 35.73 and a beta of 0.44.

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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LWAY has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Lifeway Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Lifeway Foods in a research note on Monday, June 15th. 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. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Lifeway Foods from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 15th. Finally, BTIG Research assumed coverage on Lifeway Foods in a report on Thursday, August 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $32.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.00.

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.