Have Lifeway Foods Insiders Been Selling Stock?

Some Lifeway Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:LWAY) shareholders may be a little concerned to see that insider Edward Smolyansky recently sold a substantial US$679k worth of stock at a price of US$22.64 per share. However, it's crucial to note that they remain very much invested in the stock and that sale only reduced their holding by 1.6%.

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The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Lifeway Foods

Notably, that recent sale by insider Edward Smolyansky was not the only time they sold Lifeway Foods shares this year. Earlier in the year, they fetched US$29.87 per share in a -US$4.7m sale. While insider selling is a negative, to us, it is more negative if the shares are sold at a lower price. The good news is that this large sale was at well above current price of US$22.42. So it may not tell us anything about how insiders feel about the current share price.

All up, insiders sold more shares in Lifeway Foods than they bought, over the last year. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

Check out our latest analysis for Lifeway Foods

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Insider Ownership Of Lifeway Foods

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. Lifeway Foods insiders own 32% of the company, currently worth about US$108m based on the recent share price. I like to see this level of insider ownership, because it increases the chances that management are thinking about the best interests of shareholders.

So What Do The Lifeway Foods Insider Transactions Indicate?

Unfortunately, there has been more insider selling of Lifeway Foods stock, than buying, in the last three months. Zooming out, the longer term picture doesn't give us much comfort. But it is good to see that Lifeway Foods is growing earnings. It is good to see high insider ownership, but the insider selling leaves us cautious. While it's good to be aware of what's going on with the insider's ownership and transactions, we make sure to also consider what risks are facing a stock before making any investment decision. Be aware that Lifeway Foods is showing 2 warning signs in our investment analysis, and 1 of those is concerning...

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For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests.

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