Kennedy Capital Management LLC Purchases 26,479 Shares of Lakeland Financial Corporation $LKFN

Kennedy Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 19.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 159,236 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 26,479 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Lakeland Financial were worth $9,086,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Lakeland Financial by 76.4% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 41,856 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,388,000 after acquiring an additional 18,130 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in Lakeland Financial by 14.3% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 99,540 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,390,000 after acquiring an additional 12,436 shares during the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Lakeland Financial by 15.2% in the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 153,038 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,825,000 after acquiring an additional 20,193 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Lakeland Financial by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,887,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $107,719,000 after acquiring an additional 19,967 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Neumeier Poma Investment Counsel LLC increased its stake in Lakeland Financial by 6.3% in the third quarter. Neumeier Poma Investment Counsel LLC now owns 493,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,681,000 after acquiring an additional 29,044 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

Lakeland Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ LKFN opened at $61.83 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.22. Lakeland Financial Corporation has a 12-month low of $54.36 and a 12-month high of $69.40. The firm has a market cap of $1.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.48 and a beta of 0.73.

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

Lakeland Financial Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on LKFN shares. Weiss Ratings raised Lakeland Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Hovde Group increased their target price 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Lakeland Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $66.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lakeland Financial

In other Lakeland Financial news, EVP Eric H. Ottinger sold 2,136 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.49, for a total transaction of $131,342.64. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 33,257 shares in the company, valued at $2,044,972.93. This represents a 6.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Steven D. Ross sold 1,281 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.50, for a total transaction of $80,062.50. Following the sale, the director owned 27,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,687,562.50. This represents a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 9,336 shares of company stock worth $570,251 over the last three months. Company insiders own 3.00% 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.