Lifeway Foods (NASDAQ:LWAY) Upgraded to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Lifeway Foods (NASDAQ:LWAY) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other analysts have also commented on the company. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Lifeway Foods in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Lifeway Foods in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $35.00 price target on shares of Lifeway Foods in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lifeway Foods presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.33.

Lifeway Foods Price Performance

LWAY stock opened at $21.98 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $22.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.53. Lifeway Foods has a fifty-two week low of $19.50 and a fifty-two week high of $34.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $334.73 million, a PE ratio of 30.11 and a beta of 0.11.

Lifeway Foods (NASDAQ:LWAY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 12th. The company reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $57.14 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.00 million. Lifeway Foods had a net margin of 5.47% and a return on equity of 14.51%.

Insider Transactions at Lifeway Foods

In other Lifeway Foods news, major shareholder Ludmila Smolyansky sold 26,431 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.42, for a total value of $645,445.02. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 757,823 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,506,037.66. This represents a 3.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 75,000 shares of company stock worth $1,779,895 in the last ninety days. 18.86% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lifeway Foods

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LWAY. Divisadero Street Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Lifeway Foods in the 3rd quarter valued at $17,494,000. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL grew its stake in Lifeway Foods by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 160,750 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,895,000 after acquiring an additional 9,400 shares during the period. Slotnik Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lifeway Foods by 9.2% in the third quarter. Slotnik Capital LLC now owns 141,761 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,935,000 after acquiring an additional 11,921 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lifeway Foods by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 134,816 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,267,000 after acquiring an additional 4,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Lifeway Foods during the fourth quarter worth about $2,984,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 36.39% of the company’s stock.

About Lifeway Foods

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.