Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) Director Bradley Toothaker Sells 5,685 Shares of Stock

Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN) Director Bradley Toothaker sold 5,685 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.36, for a total value of $331,776.60. Following the transaction, the director owned 20,178 shares in the company, valued at $1,177,588.08. This trade represents a 21.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Lakeland Financial Price Performance

LKFN opened at $58.02 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $59.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $61.06. Lakeland Financial Corporation has a 12-month low of $50.00 and a 12-month high of $69.40. The firm has a market cap of $1.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.47 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last released its earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The financial services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $69.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $69.45 million. Lakeland Financial had a return on equity of 14.19% and a net margin of 24.51%.During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.94 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Lakeland Financial Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Lakeland Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 5th. Investors of record on Sunday, January 25th were paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 23rd. This is an increase from Lakeland Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Lakeland Financial’s payout ratio is currently 51.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on LKFN. Wall Street Zen upgraded Lakeland Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 31st. Stephens set a $66.00 price target on Lakeland Financial in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Lakeland Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Hovde Group cut Lakeland Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $68.00 target price (down from $74.00) on shares of Lakeland Financial in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lakeland Financial has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $68.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Lakeland Financial by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,887,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $107,719,000 after purchasing an additional 19,967 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 4.4% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,354,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $83,237,000 after purchasing an additional 57,252 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,049,197 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $59,867,000 after buying an additional 15,610 shares during the last quarter. Neumeier Poma Investment Counsel LLC lifted its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Neumeier Poma Investment Counsel LLC now owns 493,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,681,000 after buying an additional 29,044 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 403.6% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 383,525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $23,568,000 after buying an additional 307,371 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

About Lakeland Financial

Lakeland Financial Corporation is a bank holding company based in Warsaw, Indiana, that operates through its principal subsidiary, Lakeland Bank. The company offers a full range of commercial and consumer banking services, including deposit products such as checking accounts, savings accounts and certificates of deposit, as well as a variety of loan offerings spanning commercial real estate, agricultural, mortgage, consumer and small-business lending.

Originally organized in 1893 as Kosciusko County State Bank, the enterprise reorganized as a bank holding company in 1984 to facilitate strategic growth and diversification.