Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) EVP Stephanie R. Leniski Sells 1,500 Shares

Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) EVP Stephanie R. Leniski sold 1,500 shares of Lakeland Financial stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.94, for a total transaction of $92,910.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,211 shares in the company, valued at $384,709.34. This trade represents a 19.45 % 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.

Lakeland Financial Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of LKFN opened at $62.09 on Wednesday. Lakeland Financial Co. has a fifty-two week low of $57.45 and a fifty-two week high of $78.61. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $66.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $67.81. The company has a market cap of $1.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.10 and a beta of 0.63.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.05. Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 21.74% and a return on equity of 13.31%. Research analysts forecast that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Lakeland Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, January 25th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. This is a boost from Lakeland Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Lakeland Financial’s payout ratio is 55.10%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LKFN. Albert D Mason Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. now owns 22,638 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,557,000 after buying an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 68,875 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,736,000 after buying an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 50,150 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,448,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 16,615 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,142,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 4,954 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $341,000 after buying an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $74.00 target price (up from $73.00) on shares of Lakeland Financial in a research note on Monday, January 27th.

Lakeland Financial Company Profile

Lakeland Financial Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Lake City Bank that provides various banking products and services in the United States. The company accepts various deposit products, such as noninterest bearing, interest-bearing checking, savings, money market, NOW, and demand deposits.