Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Purchases New Position in Lakeland Financial Corporation $LKFN

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 11,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $643,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 186.0% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Lakeland Financial by 1,212.5% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 582 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its position in Lakeland Financial by 40.5% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 118.9% during 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. Finally, State of Wyoming increased its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 16.7% during 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. 81.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LKFN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised Lakeland Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 19th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Lakeland Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Hovde Group upped their price target on shares of Lakeland Financial from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lakeland Financial currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $66.50.

Lakeland Financial Stock Performance

LKFN opened at $61.57 on Wednesday. Lakeland Financial Corporation has a twelve month low of $54.36 and a twelve month high of $69.40. The firm has a market cap of $1.53 billion, a PE ratio of 14.42 and a beta of 0.73. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $60.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.49.

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

Lakeland Financial Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other Lakeland Financial news, EVP Eric H. Ottinger sold 2,136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.49, for a total transaction of $131,342.64. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 33,257 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,044,972.93. This trade represents a 6.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Bradley J. Toothaker sold 5,900 shares of Lakeland Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.62, for a total transaction of $357,658.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 9,336 shares of company stock worth $570,251 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Lakeland Financial 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.