Lifeway Foods (NASDAQ:LWAY) Major Shareholder Divisadero Street Capital Mana Purchases 36,202 Shares of Stock

Lifeway Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:LWAY) major shareholder Divisadero Street Capital Mana acquired 36,202 shares of Lifeway Foods stock in a transaction on Monday, October 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $21.01 per share, for a total transaction of $760,604.02. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 2,401,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,461,649.92. This represents a 1.53% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Large shareholders that own 10% or more of a company’s stock are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

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

• On Tuesday, October 6th, Divisadero Street Capital Mana purchased 50,000 shares of Lifeway Foods stock. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $20.80 per share, with a total value of $1,040,000.00.
• On Friday, October 2nd, Divisadero Street Capital Mana purchased 17,482 shares of Lifeway Foods stock. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $21.09 per share, with a total value of $368,695.38.
• On Monday, August 17th, Divisadero Street Capital Mana purchased 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 acquired 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 acquired 195,616 shares of Lifeway Foods stock. The shares were acquired at an average price of $24.87 per share, for a total transaction of $4,864,969.92.

Lifeway Foods Stock Down 2.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:LWAY traded down $0.54 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $20.46. 173,192 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 156,414. Lifeway Foods, Inc. has a 12 month low of $17.31 and a 12 month high of $32.71. The company has a market cap of $309.15 million, a PE ratio of 29.23 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.47. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $25.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.73.

Lifeway Foods (NASDAQ:LWAY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 13th. The company reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.26 by ($0.25). Lifeway Foods had a return on equity of 12.66% and a net margin of 4.48%.The company had revenue of $66.89 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $61.40 million.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lifeway Foods

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lifeway Foods in the second quarter worth $9,614,000. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in Lifeway Foods during the 2nd quarter valued at about $17,459,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Lifeway Foods during the second quarter valued at about $1,711,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its stake in Lifeway Foods by 167.2% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 124,294 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,709,000 after purchasing an additional 77,774 shares in the last quarter. Finally, De Lisle Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of Lifeway Foods in the second quarter worth approximately $1,814,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. BTIG Research assumed coverage on Lifeway Foods in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $32.00 price target on the stock. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Lifeway Foods in a report on Monday, June 15th. Weiss Ratings cut Lifeway Foods from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Freedom Capital raised shares of Lifeway Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Lifeway Foods from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus 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.