Lifeway Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:LWAY) Short Interest Update

Key Points

• Short interest rose 18.1% in April to 278,205 shares (about 2.3% of shares outstanding), with a short‑interest ratio of 2.8 days based on average daily volume.
• Corporate insiders sold 75,000 shares worth roughly $1.56M in the last quarter (including Edward and Ludmila Smolyansky), bringing insider ownership to 18.86%.
• Q1 results missed expectations—EPS $0.16 vs. $0.29 estimate while revenue was roughly in line—and the stock trades near $26.93 with a market cap of ~$408M and an average analyst target of $34.33.

Lifeway Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:LWAY - Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 278,205 shares, an increase of 18.1% from the March 31st total of 235,574 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 100,237 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.8 days. Approximately 2.3% of the company's shares are sold short.

Lifeway Foods Trading Down 2.0%

LWAY opened at $26.93 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $407.99 million, a P/E ratio of 29.92 and a beta of 0.23. The business's 50-day moving average price is $22.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.05. Lifeway Foods has a 12 month low of $17.31 and a 12 month high of $34.20.

Lifeway Foods (NASDAQ:LWAY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 17th. The company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.29 by ($0.13). Lifeway Foods had a return on equity of 17.25% and a net margin of 6.52%.The company had revenue of $55.36 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $55.00 million.

Insider Activity at Lifeway Foods

In other Lifeway Foods news, major shareholder Edward Smolyansky sold 22,313 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.10, for a total value of $448,491.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 1,115,995 shares of the company's stock, valued at $22,431,499.50. This trade represents a 1.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Ludmila Smolyansky sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.50, for a total value of $397,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 732,823 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,419,809.50. The trade was a 2.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 75,000 shares of company stock worth $1,563,125. Corporate insiders own 18.86% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LWAY. Divisadero Street Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Lifeway Foods during the 3rd quarter valued at about $17,494,000. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in Lifeway Foods during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,984,000. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its position in Lifeway Foods by 260.4% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 101,311 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,812,000 after acquiring an additional 73,203 shares in the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL boosted its position in Lifeway Foods by 73.0% during the 4th quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 163,361 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,958,000 after acquiring an additional 68,956 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in Lifeway Foods by 266.3% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 57,545 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,394,000 after acquiring an additional 41,836 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.39% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on LWAY. Wall Street Zen lowered Lifeway Foods from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley set a $35.00 price target on Lifeway Foods in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Lifeway Foods in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Lifeway Foods in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lifeway Foods currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $34.33.

About Lifeway Foods

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.

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