Julie Smolyansky Acquires 2,000 Shares of Lifeway Foods (NASDAQ:LWAY) Stock

Lifeway Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:LWAY) CEO Julie Smolyansky bought 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $25.26 per share, with a total value of $50,520.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,214,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,928,039.70. This trade represents a 0.09% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Lifeway Foods Stock Up 3.5%

NASDAQ:LWAY opened at $25.91 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $29.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $25.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $391.50 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.01 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Lifeway Foods, Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.31 and a 1-year high of $34.20.

Lifeway Foods (NASDAQ:LWAY) last announced 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 business had revenue of $66.89 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $61.40 million. Lifeway Foods had a return on equity of 12.66% and a net margin of 4.48%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LWAY. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL raised its holdings in Lifeway Foods by 33.5% during the first quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 214,650 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,151,000 after buying an additional 53,900 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings 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. Steadtrust LLC bought a new position in shares of Lifeway Foods in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $477,000. Carlson Capital L.P. acquired a new stake in Lifeway Foods in the 1st quarter worth approximately $193,000. Finally, Vivaldi Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Lifeway Foods during the first quarter worth approximately $213,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 36.39% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LWAY has been the topic of several research reports. BTIG Research assumed coverage on shares of Lifeway Foods in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $32.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Lifeway Foods from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of Lifeway Foods in a report on Monday, June 15th. Freedom Capital raised shares of Lifeway Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Lifeway Foods from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average 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.