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 the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $19,578,913.52. This represents a 3.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Large shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s shares are required to disclose their sales and purchases 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 shares were 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 shares were sold at an average price of $25.45, for a total value of $1,908,750.00.

Lifeway Foods Stock Performance

Shares of LWAY stock traded up $0.16 during trading on Thursday, reaching $22.21. The company had a trading volume of 104,080 shares, compared to its average volume of 122,100. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $24.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $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 current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.47. The company has a market capitalization of $335.59 million, a PE ratio of 31.73 and a beta of 0.47.

Lifeway Foods (NASDAQ:LWAY) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The company reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $61.40 million.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LWAY. HBK Investments L P bought a new position in shares of Lifeway Foods during the 2nd quarter worth about $4,476,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its stake in Lifeway Foods by 167.2% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 124,294 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,709,000 after acquiring an additional 77,774 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC bought a new stake in Lifeway Foods in the second quarter valued at about $591,000. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in Lifeway Foods in the second quarter valued at about $17,459,000. Finally, Pillsbury Lake Capital LLC acquired a new position in Lifeway Foods in the second quarter worth about $8,704,597. 36.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Lifeway Foods from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Lifeway Foods from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Lifeway Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Finally, BTIG Research assumed coverage on Lifeway Foods in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $32.00 target price on the stock. One 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Lifeway Foods 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.