Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) Research Coverage Started at StockNews.com

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN – Get Rating) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday. The brokerage issued a sell rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Separately, Raymond James upgraded Lakeland Financial from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $78.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 21st.

Lakeland Financial Stock Down 6.4 %

Shares of Lakeland Financial stock traded down $4.53 on Thursday, hitting $65.71. 412,402 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 133,518. The stock has a market cap of $1.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.26 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $70.89 and its 200 day moving average is $74.36. Lakeland Financial has a 52-week low of $59.55 and a 52-week high of $83.57.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.13 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $85.87 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $65.70 million. Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 36.89% and a return on equity of 18.38%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.95 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Lakeland Financial will post 4.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Lakeland Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 6th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 25th were paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 24th. This is a boost from Lakeland Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.80%. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Brok A. Lahrman sold 550 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.37, for a total transaction of $38,703.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,376 shares in the company, valued at $96,829.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Brok A. Lahrman sold 550 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.37, for a total transaction of $38,703.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,376 shares in the company, valued at $96,829.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Stephanie R. Leniski sold 2,157 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.66, for a total value of $150,256.62. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 2,938 shares in the company, valued at $204,661.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 6,051 shares of company stock worth $423,609 over the last ninety days. 3.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 3.5% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 3,807,592 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $277,953,000 after acquiring an additional 128,992 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Lakeland Financial by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,838,241 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $133,843,000 after purchasing an additional 35,326 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Lakeland Financial by 27.4% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,308,005 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $95,484,000 after purchasing an additional 280,943 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Lakeland Financial by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 1,193,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $86,915,000 after purchasing an additional 95,906 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Lakeland Financial by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 942,136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $68,748,000 after purchasing an additional 5,666 shares in the last quarter. 80.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lakeland Financial Company Profile

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Lakeland Financial Corp. is a bank holding company, which engages in the provision of banking products and services. It offers commercial and consumer banking, trust and wealth management, brokerage, and treasury management commercial services. The company was founded on February 8, 1983 and is headquartered in Warsaw, IN.