Lifeway Foods (NASDAQ:LWAY) Earns Buy Rating from Lake Street Capital

Lifeway Foods (NASDAQ:LWAY)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by Lake Street Capital in a report released on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have a $33.00 price objective on the stock, up from their prior price objective of $30.00. Lake Street Capital’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 9.31% from the company’s previous close.

Separately, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Lifeway Foods to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 12th.

Lifeway Foods Stock Up 2.3%

NASDAQ LWAY opened at $30.19 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $458.89 million, a PE ratio of 43.75 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $25.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.75. Lifeway Foods has a 52 week low of $16.52 and a 52 week high of $31.00.

Lifeway Foods (NASDAQ:LWAY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 12th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.10. Lifeway Foods had a net margin of 5.49% and a return on equity of 14.62%. The business had revenue of $53.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $54.00 million.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lifeway Foods

In other news, CEO Julie Smolyansky sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.07, for a total value of $1,103,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,132,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,063,899.81. This represents a 2.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Jason Scott Scher sold 16,366 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.24, for a total transaction of $396,711.84. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1 shares in the company, valued at $24.24. This trade represents a 99.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 78,566 shares of company stock worth $1,788,672. 18.86% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lifeway Foods

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Gabelli Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lifeway Foods by 52.6% in the 2nd quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 98,644 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,432,000 after acquiring an additional 33,988 shares during the last quarter. GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. boosted its holdings in shares of Lifeway Foods by 55.5% in the 2nd quarter. GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. now owns 94,746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,335,000 after acquiring an additional 33,800 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL boosted its holdings in Lifeway Foods by 4.2% during the second quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 149,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,686,000 after buying an additional 6,000 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Lifeway Foods by 6.8% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 17,178 shares of the company’s stock worth $423,000 after buying an additional 1,091 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ boosted its holdings in Lifeway Foods by 58.0% during the second quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 14,271 shares of the company’s stock worth $352,000 after buying an additional 5,238 shares in the last quarter. 36.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.