NFJ Investment Group LLC Trims Stock Position in Lakeland Financial Corporation $LKFN

NFJ Investment Group LLC lowered its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 449,242 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 25,849 shares during the period. NFJ Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Lakeland Financial were worth $25,634,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 186.0% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 1,212.5% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 582 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 118.9% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 996 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 541 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming increased its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 16.7% in the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 2,431 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $139,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Lakeland Financial in the 1st quarter valued at about $215,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on LKFN shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded Lakeland Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Lakeland Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 19th. Finally, Hovde Group lifted their price target on Lakeland Financial from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Lakeland Financial presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $66.50.

Lakeland Financial Price Performance

Shares of Lakeland Financial stock opened at $61.83 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.48 and a beta of 0.73. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $60.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.21. Lakeland Financial Corporation has a 1-year low of $54.36 and a 1-year high of $69.40.

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

Lakeland Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, April 25th were given a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 24th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. Lakeland Financial’s payout ratio is presently 48.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lakeland Financial

In other Lakeland Financial news, Director Steven D. Ross sold 1,281 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.50, for a total value of $80,062.50. Following the sale, the director owned 27,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,687,562.50. The trade was a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Bradley J. Toothaker sold 5,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.62, for a total value of $357,658.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 14,278 shares in the company, valued at approximately $865,532.36. The trade was a 29.24% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 9,336 shares of company stock valued at $570,251 over the last quarter. 3.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Lakeland Financial Company Profile

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.