StockNews.com Begins Coverage on Lifeway Foods (NASDAQ:LWAY)

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Lifeway Foods (NASDAQ:LWAY – Get Rating) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday. The firm set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock.

Lifeway Foods Price Performance

LWAY stock opened at $6.09 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Lifeway Foods has a one year low of $4.55 and a one year high of $8.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.19 million, a PE ratio of 101.50 and a beta of 1.48. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $6.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $6.08.

Lifeway Foods (NASDAQ:LWAY – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 27th. The company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $35.84 million for the quarter. Lifeway Foods had a return on equity of 1.89% and a net margin of 0.65%. On average, analysts forecast that Lifeway Foods will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Edward Smolyansky sold 28,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.94, for a total value of $166,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,409,439 shares in the company, valued at $8,372,067.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Lifeway Foods news, Director Ludmila Smolyansky sold 125,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.00, for a total transaction of $750,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,924,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,548,722. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Edward Smolyansky sold 28,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.94, for a total value of $166,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,409,439 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,372,067.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 168,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,006,470 over the last ninety days. 50.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Millennium Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lifeway Foods in the fourth quarter worth approximately $82,000. UBS Group AG grew its holdings in Lifeway Foods by 12,896.2% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 16,895 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,000 after buying an additional 16,765 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Lifeway Foods by 22.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 178,117 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,286,000 after buying an additional 33,079 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Lifeway Foods by 1.4% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 266,535 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,610,000 after buying an additional 3,657 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in Lifeway Foods by 2.2% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 383,982 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,319,000 after purchasing an additional 8,200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 29.36% of the company’s stock.

Lifeway Foods Company Profile

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Lifeway Foods, Inc engages in the manufacture of probiotic and nutritious foods. Its products include kefir, organic kefir, plantiful, probugs, frozen kefir, cups and skyr, cheese, and supplements. The company distributes its products primarily through its direct sales force, brokers, and distributors.