Lifeway Foods (NASDAQ:LWAY) Major Shareholder Divisadero Street Capital Mana Buys 35,952 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Major shareholder Divisadero Street Capital Mana bought 35,952 Lifeway Foods shares at an average $24.78 each, investing approximately $890,891 and increasing its position by 1.55% to 2.35 million shares.
• Lifeway Foods shares fell 4.1% to $24.75, while the company’s latest quarterly EPS of $0.01 missed analyst expectations of $0.26 despite revenue exceeding forecasts.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: Weiss Ratings and Wall Street Zen downgraded the stock, while Benchmark maintained a buy rating; the consensus rating remains “Moderate Buy” with a $35 price target.

Lifeway Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:LWAY - Get Free Report) major shareholder Divisadero Street Capital Mana acquired 35,952 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $24.78 per share, with a total value of $890,890.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 2,348,108 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,186,116.24. This trade represents a 1.55% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Major shareholders that own 10% or more of a company's shares are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

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

• On Friday, August 14th, Divisadero Street Capital Mana purchased 15,000 shares of Lifeway Foods stock. The stock was bought at an average cost of $24.69 per share, with a total value of $370,350.00.
• On Thursday, August 13th, Divisadero Street Capital Mana purchased 195,616 shares of Lifeway Foods stock. The shares were bought at an average price of $24.87 per share, with a total value of $4,864,969.92.

Lifeway Foods Stock Down 4.1%

LWAY traded down $1.07 on Monday, reaching $24.75. 297,744 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 151,718. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $29.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $25.07. Lifeway Foods, Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.31 and a 52-week high of $34.20. The company has a market cap of $373.97 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.36 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.47.

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

Institutional Trading of Lifeway Foods

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in LWAY. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Lifeway Foods during the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Larson Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Lifeway Foods during the third quarter valued at about $31,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in Lifeway Foods by 577.3% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,551 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,322 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Lifeway Foods in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its position in shares of Lifeway Foods by 302.0% in the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 2,967 shares of the company's stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 2,229 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 36.39% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LWAY has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded Lifeway Foods from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Thursday. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating on shares of Lifeway Foods in a report on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Lifeway Foods from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $35.00.

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.

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