Natixis Advisors LLC Has $6.37 Million Holdings in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN)

Natixis Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 33.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 92,669 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 46,112 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Lakeland Financial were worth $6,372,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Lakeland Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $50,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lakeland Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $53,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Lakeland Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at about $74,000. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 62.3% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,672 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $115,000 after acquiring an additional 642 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 18.8% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $142,000 after acquiring an additional 326 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

Lakeland Financial Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LKFN opened at $60.19 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $65.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.66. Lakeland Financial Co. has a twelve month low of $57.45 and a twelve month high of $78.61. The company has a market cap of $1.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.58 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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.05. Lakeland Financial had a return on equity of 13.31% and a net margin of 21.74%. Analysts anticipate that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Lakeland Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, January 25th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.32%. This is an increase from Lakeland Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.10%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $74.00 price objective (up previously from $73.00) on shares of Lakeland Financial in a report on Monday, January 27th. Hovde Group assumed coverage on Lakeland Financial in a research note on Friday. They set a “market perform” rating and a $66.00 target price for the company.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lakeland Financial news, EVP Stephanie R. Leniski sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.94, for a total value of $92,910.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $384,709.34. This trade represents a 19.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Donald Robinson-Gay sold 550 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.25, for a total value of $36,437.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,974 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $329,527.50. This represents a 9.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Lakeland Financial 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.