Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) Shares Acquired by Aviva PLC

Aviva PLC increased its position in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 7.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,367 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,043 shares during the period. Aviva PLC’s holdings in Lakeland Financial were worth $900,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of LKFN. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 3.5% in 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 last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 2.0% during the third 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 raised its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 27.4% during the first 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. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 0.6% during the fourth 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. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Lakeland Financial by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 467,827 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,137,000 after buying an additional 17,612 shares during the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lakeland Financial Trading Up 1.7 %

NASDAQ LKFN opened at $50.10 on Friday. Lakeland Financial Co. has a twelve month low of $43.05 and a twelve month high of $83.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market cap of $1.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.80 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $52.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.74.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.91 by ($0.34). Lakeland Financial had a return on equity of 16.37% and a net margin of 27.14%. The firm had revenue of $95.98 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.40 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.00 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.39 EPS for the current year.

Lakeland Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 25th were given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 24th. Lakeland Financial’s payout ratio is 50.69%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Jonathan P. Steiner bought 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $55.26 per share, with a total value of $165,780.00. Following the purchase, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $517,730.94. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Lakeland Financial news, Director M Scott Welch acquired 3,920 shares of Lakeland Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $50.98 per share, with a total value of $199,841.60. Following the purchase, the director now owns 183,326 shares in the company, valued at $9,345,959.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jonathan P. Steiner acquired 3,000 shares of Lakeland Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 17th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $55.26 per share, with a total value of $165,780.00. Following the purchase, the senior vice president now owns 9,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $517,730.94. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have bought 7,820 shares of company stock worth $415,266. Corporate insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Raymond James decreased their price target on shares of Lakeland Financial from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lakeland Financial to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, TheStreet lowered shares of Lakeland Financial from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, July 24th.

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.