Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) Director Emily E. Pichon Purchases 1,025 Shares of Stock

Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN – Get Rating) Director Emily E. Pichon purchased 1,025 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 8th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $47.80 per share, with a total value of $48,995.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 16,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $776,176.40. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Lakeland Financial Price Performance

Shares of LKFN stock opened at $46.25 on Tuesday. Lakeland Financial Co. has a 52-week low of $44.25 and a 52-week high of $83.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.39 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $60.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.69.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.14). Lakeland Financial had a return on equity of 18.55% and a net margin of 33.46%. The business had revenue of $89.53 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $66.40 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.92 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Lakeland Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 25th were given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 24th. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.32%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lakeland Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 47.6% in the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 431 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 22,306 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,628,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in Lakeland Financial by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 3,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $273,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in Lakeland Financial by 78.9% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 381 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors grew its stake in Lakeland Financial by 45.3% during the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. 80.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LKFN has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Lakeland Financial in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They set a “sell” rating for the company. Raymond James dropped their price target on Lakeland Financial from $74.00 to $66.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 26th.

About Lakeland Financial

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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.