Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Cuts Stake in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lowered its position in shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 7.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,149 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Lakeland Financial were worth $919,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SYM FINANCIAL Corp purchased a new position in Lakeland Financial during the 3rd quarter worth $1,544,000. Kennedy Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 41.0% in the 3rd quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 113,114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,368,000 after purchasing an additional 32,912 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 463,234 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,985,000 after acquiring an additional 12,618 shares in the last quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Lakeland Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,193,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 33.6% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 4,902 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $233,000 after acquiring an additional 1,234 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Michael L. Kubacki sold 26,600 shares of Lakeland Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.51, for a total transaction of $1,902,166.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 39,800 shares in the company, valued at $2,846,098. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Lakeland Financial news, Director Michael L. Kubacki sold 26,600 shares of Lakeland Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.51, for a total value of $1,902,166.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 39,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,846,098. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Steven D. Ross sold 1,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total transaction of $83,850.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,773,814.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 53,728 shares of company stock worth $3,670,449 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Lakeland Financial from $60.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Stephens raised their price target on shares of Lakeland Financial from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th.

Lakeland Financial Price Performance

LKFN opened at $59.77 on Monday. Lakeland Financial Co. has a 1 year low of $43.05 and a 1 year high of $73.22. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $62.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.55 billion, a PE ratio of 16.51 and a beta of 0.67.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.10. Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 22.81% and a return on equity of 14.34%. The firm had revenue of $65.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.81 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.01 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.53 EPS for the current year.

Lakeland Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 24th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.21%. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.04%.

About Lakeland Financial

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.