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

Lifeway Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:LWAY) major shareholder Divisadero Street Capital Mana purchased 36,202 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $21.01 per share, for a total transaction of $760,604.02. Following the purchase, the insider owned 2,401,792 shares in the company, valued at $50,461,649.92. This represents a 1.53% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Major shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

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

• On Tuesday, October 6th, Divisadero Street Capital Mana acquired 50,000 shares of Lifeway Foods stock. The shares were bought at an average price of $20.80 per share, with a total value of $1,040,000.00.
• On Friday, October 2nd, Divisadero Street Capital Mana acquired 17,482 shares of Lifeway Foods stock. The shares were bought 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 acquired 35,952 shares of Lifeway Foods stock. The shares were bought at an average cost of $24.78 per share, with a total value 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, for a total transaction of $370,350.00.
• On Thursday, August 13th, Divisadero Street Capital Mana bought 195,616 shares of Lifeway Foods stock. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $24.87 per share, for a total transaction of $4,864,969.92.

Lifeway Foods Price Performance

Shares of Lifeway Foods stock traded down $0.54 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $20.46. 173,192 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 156,414. Lifeway Foods, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $17.31 and a fifty-two week high of $32.71. The company has a market cap of $309.15 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.23 and a beta of 0.47. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.73. 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 (NASDAQ:LWAY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The company reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by ($0.25). The firm had revenue of $66.89 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $61.40 million. Lifeway Foods had a net margin of 4.48% and a return on equity of 12.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LWAY has been the topic of several research reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Lifeway Foods from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 15th. BTIG Research began coverage on shares of Lifeway Foods in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $32.00 price objective for the company. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Lifeway Foods in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Freedom Capital upgraded Lifeway Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Lifeway Foods from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lifeway Foods has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $34.00.

Institutional Trading of Lifeway Foods

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LWAY. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in shares of Lifeway Foods during the second quarter worth approximately $17,459,000. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Lifeway Foods in the second quarter valued at approximately $9,614,000. Pillsbury Lake Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Lifeway Foods during the second quarter worth approximately $8,704,597. AWM Investment Company Inc. bought a new position in Lifeway Foods during the 2nd quarter worth $6,654,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Lifeway Foods by 8.8% in 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 36.39% of the company’s stock.

About Lifeway Foods

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.