Lifeway Foods (NASDAQ:LWAY) Stock Price Passes Above 200-Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Lifeway Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:LWAY) crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $23.97 and traded as high as $32.71. Lifeway Foods shares last traded at $32.09, with a volume of 71,278 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on LWAY. Wall Street Zen cut Lifeway Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 21st. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Lifeway Foods in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Lifeway Foods from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Lifeway Foods has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.33.

Lifeway Foods Trading Down 0.4%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 2.14. The firm has a market cap of $488.20 million, a PE ratio of 32.94 and a beta of 0.45. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.03.

Lifeway Foods (NASDAQ:LWAY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30. Lifeway Foods had a net margin of 6.54% and a return on equity of 17.76%. The firm had revenue of $63.01 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.80 million.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lifeway Foods news, major shareholder Ludmila Smolyansky sold 45,616 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.65, for a total transaction of $1,352,514.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 607,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,003,687.55. The trade was a 6.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Edward Smolyansky sold 39,098 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.41, for a total value of $1,149,872.18. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,071,709 shares in the company, valued at $31,518,961.69. The trade was a 3.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,921,454 shares of company stock worth $80,633,139. 18.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lifeway Foods

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of LWAY. Carlson Capital L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Lifeway Foods during the 1st quarter valued at about $193,000. Vivaldi Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Lifeway Foods in the first quarter worth approximately $213,000. Teton Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lifeway Foods in the first quarter worth approximately $193,000. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL grew its position in Lifeway Foods by 33.5% during the first quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 214,650 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,151,000 after buying an additional 53,900 shares during the period. Finally, State of Wyoming grew its position in Lifeway Foods by 9.0% during the first quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 9,015 shares of the company’s stock valued at $174,000 after buying an additional 747 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 36.39% of the company’s stock.

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.