Don't Ignore The Insider Selling In Lifeway Foods

Some Lifeway Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:LWAY) shareholders may be a little concerned to see that insider Edward Smolyansky recently sold a substantial US$1.6m worth of stock at a price of US$22.62 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 3.7%.

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Lifeway Foods Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In fact, the recent sale by insider Edward Smolyansky was not their only sale of Lifeway Foods shares this year. Earlier in the year, they fetched US$29.87 per share in a -US$4.7m sale. We generally don't like to see insider selling, but the lower the sale price, the more it concerns us. The silver lining is that this sell-down took place above the latest price (US$21.65). So it may not tell us anything about how insiders feel about the current share price.

Over the last year we saw more insider selling of Lifeway Foods shares, than buying. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

See our latest analysis for Lifeway Foods

I will like Lifeway Foods better if I see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of undervalued and small cap stocks with considerable, recent, insider buying.

Does Lifeway Foods Boast High Insider Ownership?

Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. It's great to see that Lifeway Foods insiders own 31% of the company, worth about US$102m. Most shareholders would be happy to see this sort of insider ownership, since it suggests that management incentives are well aligned with other shareholders.

So What Does This Data Suggest About Lifeway Foods Insiders?

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. On the plus side, Lifeway Foods makes money, and is growing profits. It is good to see high insider ownership, but the insider selling leaves us cautious. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Lifeway Foods. At Simply Wall St, we've found that Lifeway Foods has 2 warning signs (1 is significant!) that deserve your attention before going any further with your analysis.

Of course Lifeway Foods may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of high quality companies.

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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