Fifth Third Bancorp Purchases 459 Shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN)

Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 342.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 459 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Lakeland Financial were worth $36,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in LKFN. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Lakeland Financial by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 263,434 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,165,000 after buying an additional 12,486 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Lakeland Financial by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,627,094 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $106,021,000 after acquiring an additional 174,613 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 72.2% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 19,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,290,000 after purchasing an additional 8,304 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Lakeland Financial by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,847,688 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $120,395,000 after purchasing an additional 42,862 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lakeland Financial during the first quarter valued at about $664,000. 81.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, President Kristin Pruitt sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $804,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 10,252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $687,499.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Brok A. Lahrman sold 415 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.91, for a total value of $28,597.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,739 shares in the company, valued at $119,834.49. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, President Kristin Pruitt sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $804,720.00. Following the transaction, the president now owns 10,252 shares in the company, valued at $687,499.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,835 shares of company stock worth $862,268 in the last quarter. 3.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Lakeland Financial Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ LKFN opened at $67.35 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $63.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $62.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.60 and a beta of 0.67. Lakeland Financial Co. has a 1 year low of $44.47 and a 1 year high of $73.22.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.02. Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 23.70% and a return on equity of 14.72%. The company had revenue of $68.74 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.70 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.57 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 25th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 25th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.85%. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.04%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Lakeland Financial from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lakeland Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.00.

Lakeland Financial Company 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.