Vanguard Group Inc. Grows Position in Lakeland Financial Corporation $LKFN

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,887,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 19,967 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.07% of Lakeland Financial worth $107,719,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,354,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $83,237,000 after buying an additional 57,252 shares during the period. Neumeier Poma Investment Counsel LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $31,681,000 after buying an additional 29,044 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 403.6% during 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 during the period. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 68.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 321,031 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,610,000 after buying an additional 130,897 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 327.9% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 199,323 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,848,000 after buying an additional 152,738 shares during the period. 81.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lakeland Financial Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ LKFN opened at $59.79 on Wednesday. Lakeland Financial Corporation has a 12 month low of $54.36 and a 12 month high of $69.40. The company has a market cap of $1.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.00 and a beta of 0.74. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $58.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.95.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.03. Lakeland Financial had a return on equity of 14.79% and a net margin of 25.81%.The business had revenue of $69.71 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.42 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.78 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Lakeland Financial Corporation will post 4.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, April 25th were issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 24th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Lakeland Financial’s payout ratio is currently 48.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lakeland Financial news, Director M Scott Welch purchased 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $56.23 per share, for a total transaction of $562,300.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 212,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,921,097.38. This represents a 4.95% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Bradley J. Toothaker sold 5,685 shares of Lakeland Financial stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were 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 represents a 21.98% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 25,000 shares of company stock worth $1,419,050 and have sold 9,121 shares worth $544,369. 3.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LKFN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Lakeland Financial in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Stephens set a $66.00 price objective on Lakeland Financial in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Lakeland Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 19th. Finally, Hovde Group raised their price target on Lakeland Financial from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $66.50.

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.