Lifeway Foods (NASDAQ:LWAY) Coverage Initiated at StockNews.com

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Lifeway Foods (NASDAQ:LWAY) in a research note published on Thursday morning. The firm issued a hold rating on the stock.

Separately, Noble Financial cut shares of Lifeway Foods from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th.

Lifeway Foods Stock Performance

NASDAQ LWAY traded up $1.28 on Thursday, reaching $23.67. 207,169 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 144,941. The firm has a market cap of $350.08 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.11 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $24.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $18.86. Lifeway Foods has a fifty-two week low of $9.93 and a fifty-two week high of $28.61.

Lifeway Foods (NASDAQ:LWAY) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 13th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.08. Lifeway Foods had a net margin of 7.69% and a return on equity of 21.92%. The company had revenue of $49.16 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $46.50 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.21 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Lifeway Foods will post 0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Lifeway Foods

In related news, major shareholder Ludmila Smolyansky sold 4,584 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.55, for a total transaction of $89,617.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,085,549 shares in the company, valued at $21,222,482.95. This represents a 0.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 18.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lifeway Foods

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lifeway Foods by 7.1% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 454,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,806,000 after purchasing an additional 30,000 shares in the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. increased 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 acquiring an additional 11,383 shares in the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL increased its holdings in Lifeway Foods by 37.8% during the 1st quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 109,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,889,000 after acquiring an additional 30,100 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in Lifeway Foods by 48.5% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 100,217 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,280,000 after acquiring an additional 32,742 shares in the last quarter. Finally, De Lisle Partners LLP grew its holdings in shares of Lifeway Foods by 30.7% during the third quarter. De Lisle Partners LLP now owns 59,782 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,552,000 after buying an additional 14,051 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 36.39% of the company’s stock.

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.