Insider Selling: Lifeway Foods (NASDAQ:LWAY) Major Shareholder Sells $633,500.00 in Stock

Lifeway Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:LWAY) major shareholder Edward Smolyansky sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.34, for a total transaction of $633,500.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 1,076,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,282,108.28. The trade was a 2.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Large shareholders that own 10% or more 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 Friday, May 15th, Edward Smolyansky sold 24,000 shares of Lifeway Foods stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.87, for a total transaction of $596,880.00.
• On Thursday, March 19th, Edward Smolyansky sold 14,353 shares of Lifeway Foods stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.77, for a total transaction of $255,052.81.
• On Tuesday, March 17th, Edward Smolyansky sold 22,313 shares of Lifeway Foods stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.10, for a total transaction of $448,491.30.
• On Monday, March 16th, Edward Smolyansky sold 13,334 shares of Lifeway Foods stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.60, for a total transaction of $274,680.40.

Lifeway Foods Trading Up 1.3%

LWAY opened at $25.53 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.14 and a quick ratio of 1.56. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $23.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $22.96. Lifeway Foods, Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.31 and a 1-year high of $34.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $390.10 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.32 and a beta of 0.53.

Lifeway Foods (NASDAQ:LWAY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30. Lifeway Foods had a return on equity of 17.76% and a net margin of 6.54%.The business had revenue of $63.01 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.80 million.

Institutional Trading of Lifeway Foods

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in shares of Lifeway Foods by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 6,068 shares of the company’s stock valued at $148,000 after buying an additional 462 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in Lifeway Foods by 5.7% in the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 9,250 shares of the company’s stock worth $257,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Lifeway Foods by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 8,009 shares of the company’s stock worth $194,000 after acquiring an additional 659 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming increased its stake in Lifeway Foods by 9.0% during the first quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 9,015 shares of the company’s stock worth $174,000 after acquiring an additional 747 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. raised its position in Lifeway Foods by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. now owns 16,750 shares of the company’s stock valued at $406,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 36.39% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on LWAY shares. Wall Street Zen cut Lifeway Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 21st. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Lifeway Foods from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.33.

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.