Insider Buying: Lifeway Foods (NASDAQ:LWAY) Major Shareholder Buys $4,864,969.92 in Stock

Lifeway Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:LWAY) major shareholder Divisadero Street Capital Mana acquired 195,616 shares of Lifeway Foods stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $24.87 per share, with a total value of $4,864,969.92. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 2,297,156 shares in the company, valued at $57,130,269.72. The trade was a 9.31% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Major shareholders that own 10% or more of a company’s shares are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

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

• On Monday, August 17th, Divisadero Street Capital Mana acquired 35,952 shares of Lifeway Foods stock. The stock was purchased at an average cost 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 shares were acquired at an average price of $24.69 per share, for a total transaction of $370,350.00.

Lifeway Foods Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LWAY traded down $1.07 on Monday, reaching $24.75. 297,744 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 151,718. 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 50-day moving average of $29.03 and a 200-day moving average of $25.07. Lifeway Foods, Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.31 and a 1-year high of $34.20. The firm has a market cap of $373.97 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.36 and a beta of 0.44.

Lifeway Foods (NASDAQ:LWAY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The company reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by ($0.25). Lifeway Foods had a net margin of 4.48% and a return on equity of 12.66%. The firm had revenue of $66.89 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $61.40 million.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on LWAY. Wall Street Zen downgraded Lifeway Foods from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Lifeway Foods from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Lifeway Foods in a report on Monday, June 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $35.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lifeway Foods

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LWAY. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL raised its holdings in Lifeway Foods by 33.5% in the first quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 214,650 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,151,000 after acquiring an additional 53,900 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Lifeway Foods by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 235,710 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,558,000 after buying an additional 19,035 shares during the last quarter. Steadtrust LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lifeway Foods in the 2nd quarter valued at about $477,000. Carlson Capital L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Lifeway Foods during the 1st quarter valued at about $193,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Lifeway Foods by 40.2% in the first quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 27,459 shares of the company’s stock worth $531,000 after acquiring an additional 7,874 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 36.39% of the company’s stock.

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.