Lifeway Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:LWAY) Short Interest Up 255.8% in May

Lifeway Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:LWAY) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totaling 1,030,606 shares, a growth of 255.8% from the April 30th total of 289,632 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 176,614 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.8 days. Currently, 8.3% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lifeway Foods

In other Lifeway Foods news, major shareholder Divisadero Street Capital Mana bought 33,174 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $25.27 per share, for a total transaction of $838,306.98. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 2,101,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,105,915.80. This represents a 1.60% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Edward Smolyansky sold 24,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.87, for a total transaction of $596,880.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 1,052,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,179,206.54. This trade represents a 2.23% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 3,598,756 shares of company stock worth $70,654,047 over the last three months. 18.86% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lifeway Foods

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LWAY. Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in Lifeway Foods by 8.2% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 6,068 shares of the company’s stock valued at $148,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in shares of Lifeway Foods by 5.7% during the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 9,250 shares of the company’s stock worth $257,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Lifeway Foods by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 8,009 shares of the company’s stock worth $194,000 after acquiring an additional 659 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming grew its position in shares of Lifeway Foods by 9.0% during the first quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 9,015 shares of the company’s stock worth $174,000 after acquiring an additional 747 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. grew its position in shares of Lifeway Foods by 6.8% during the third quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. now owns 15,750 shares of the company’s stock worth $437,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.39% of the company’s stock.

Lifeway Foods Price Performance

Lifeway Foods stock traded down $0.18 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $23.85. The company had a trading volume of 22,185 shares, compared to its average volume of 78,563. Lifeway Foods has a 1 year low of $17.31 and a 1 year high of $34.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.14 and a quick ratio of 1.56. The company has a market capitalization of $364.35 million, a P/E ratio of 24.58 and a beta of 0.53. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $23.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.97.

Lifeway Foods (NASDAQ:LWAY) last issued its 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 company had revenue of $63.01 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.80 million.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LWAY has been the subject of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Lifeway Foods from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Lifeway Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Lifeway Foods currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.33.

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.