Insider Buying: Lifeway Foods (NASDAQ:LWAY) Major Shareholder Purchases $368,695.38 in Stock

Lifeway Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:LWAY) major shareholder Divisadero Street Capital Mana acquired 17,482 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $21.09 per share, with a total value of $368,695.38. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 2,365,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,890,293.10. This trade represents a 0.74% 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 more than 10% of a company’s shares 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 bought 50,000 shares of Lifeway Foods stock. The shares were acquired at an average price of $20.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,040,000.00.
• On Monday, October 5th, Divisadero Street Capital Mana acquired 36,202 shares of Lifeway Foods stock. The shares were bought at an average price of $21.01 per share, for a total transaction of $760,604.02.
• On Monday, August 17th, Divisadero Street Capital Mana purchased 35,952 shares of Lifeway Foods stock. The stock was bought 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 bought 15,000 shares of Lifeway Foods stock. The stock was purchased at an average price 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 shares were acquired at an average cost of $24.87 per share, with a total value of $4,864,969.92.

Lifeway Foods Trading Down 1.0%

LWAY opened at $21.09 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $25.12 and its 200-day moving average is $25.78. Lifeway Foods, Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.31 and a 1-year high of $32.71. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a market cap of $318.67 million, a P/E ratio of 30.13 and a beta of 0.47.

Lifeway Foods (NASDAQ:LWAY) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). The company 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 Trading of Lifeway Foods

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Lifeway Foods during the second quarter worth $17,459,000. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lifeway Foods in the 2nd quarter valued at about $9,614,000. Pillsbury Lake Capital LLC bought a new stake in Lifeway Foods during the second quarter valued at approximately $8,704,597. AWM Investment Company Inc. purchased a new position in Lifeway Foods in the second quarter worth $6,654,000. Finally, HBK Investments L P purchased a new position in shares of Lifeway Foods during the 2nd quarter valued at about $4,476,000. 36.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the company. BTIG Research began coverage on Lifeway Foods in a report on Thursday, August 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $32.00 target price on the stock. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of Lifeway Foods in a report on Monday, June 15th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Lifeway Foods from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Freedom Capital raised shares of Lifeway Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Lifeway Foods from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lifeway Foods currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target 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.