Insider Selling: Lifeway Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:LWAY) Major Shareholder Sells $179,826.00 in Stock

Lifeway Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:LWAY) major shareholder Ludmila Smolyansky sold 14,620 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.30, for a total value of $179,826.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,125,133 shares in the company, valued at $13,839,135.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Major shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

Ludmila Smolyansky also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, May 6th, Ludmila Smolyansky sold 5,000 shares of Lifeway Foods stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.78, for a total transaction of $133,900.00.

Lifeway Foods Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of LWAY stock opened at $12.08 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. Lifeway Foods, Inc. has a 12-month low of $5.91 and a 12-month high of $28.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $177.66 million, a P/E ratio of 14.05 and a beta of 1.01. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $13.17 and its 200 day moving average is $15.09.

Lifeway Foods (NASDAQ:LWAY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 14th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $44.63 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $43.00 million. Lifeway Foods had a return on equity of 22.34% and a net margin of 7.77%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.06 EPS. Research analysts expect that Lifeway Foods, Inc. will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lifeway Foods

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bailard Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Lifeway Foods during the 2nd quarter valued at $253,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Lifeway Foods by 56.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 58,589 shares of the company’s stock worth $748,000 after purchasing an additional 21,168 shares in the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL boosted its stake in Lifeway Foods by 37.8% in the 1st quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 109,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,889,000 after purchasing an additional 30,100 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Lifeway Foods by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 246,480 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,244,000 after buying an additional 11,383 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in shares of Lifeway Foods by 656.8% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 5,010 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 4,348 shares during the last quarter. 36.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Noble Financial upgraded shares of Lifeway Foods from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $20.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. StockNews.com raised Lifeway Foods from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 8th. Finally, Lake Street Capital lifted their target price on Lifeway Foods from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 15th.

About Lifeway Foods

Lifeway Foods, Inc produces and markets probiotic-based products in the United States and internationally. Its primary product is drinkable kefir, a cultured dairy product in various organic and non-organic sizes, flavors, and types. The company offers European-style soft cheeses; cream and other products; ProBugs, a line of kefir products designed for children; drinkable yogurt; and fresh made butter and sour cream.