Lifeway Foods (NASDAQ:LWAY) Stock Crosses Above 200 Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Lifeway Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:LWAY) passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $23.12 and traded as high as $23.39. Lifeway Foods shares last traded at $22.77, with a volume of 91,969 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on LWAY. Morgan Stanley set a $35.00 price objective on shares of Lifeway Foods in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Lifeway Foods in a report on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Lifeway Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 21st. Finally, Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of Lifeway Foods in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $34.33.

Lifeway Foods Trading Up 0.1%

The firm has a market capitalization of $344.97 million, a P/E ratio of 25.30 and a beta of 0.23. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $21.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.12.

Lifeway Foods (NASDAQ:LWAY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 17th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $55.36 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.00 million. Lifeway Foods had a net margin of 6.52% and a return on equity of 17.25%.

Insider Transactions at Lifeway Foods

In other Lifeway Foods news, major shareholder Ludmila Smolyansky sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.74, for a total transaction of $187,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 747,823 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,014,203.02. This trade represents a 1.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Edward Smolyansky sold 14,353 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.77, for a total transaction of $255,052.81. Following the sale, the insider owned 1,101,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,576,178.34. This represents a 1.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 60,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,165,625. 18.86% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lifeway Foods

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Divisadero Street Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Lifeway Foods during the 3rd quarter valued at about $17,494,000. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL boosted its holdings in shares of Lifeway Foods by 73.0% during the 4th quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 163,361 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,958,000 after acquiring an additional 68,956 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL boosted its holdings in shares of Lifeway Foods by 6.2% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Slotnik Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lifeway Foods by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. Slotnik Capital LLC now owns 141,761 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,935,000 after acquiring an additional 11,921 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lifeway Foods by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 134,816 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,267,000 after acquiring an additional 4,300 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.