Lifeway Foods (NASDAQ:LWAY) Major Shareholder S.A. Danone Sells 3,454,756 Shares of Stock

Lifeway Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:LWAY) major shareholder S.A. Danone sold 3,454,756 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.50, for a total transaction of $67,367,742.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Large shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

Lifeway Foods Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of LWAY opened at $25.53 on Thursday. Lifeway Foods, Inc. has a twelve month low of $17.31 and a twelve month high of $34.20. The company has a market cap of $390.10 million, a P/E ratio of 26.32 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a current ratio of 2.14, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.96.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LWAY. Strs Ohio bought a new position in Lifeway Foods during the 1st quarter worth about $90,000. Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in Lifeway Foods by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 6,068 shares of the company’s stock worth $148,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Lifeway Foods by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 124,726 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,075,000 after acquiring an additional 7,718 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Lifeway Foods by 293.6% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 13,472 shares of the company’s stock worth $332,000 after acquiring an additional 10,049 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in Lifeway Foods by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 17,178 shares of the company’s stock worth $423,000 after acquiring an additional 1,091 shares in the last quarter. 36.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on LWAY shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Lifeway Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 21st. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Lifeway Foods from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus 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.