Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Acquires 200 Shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its position in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System owned 0.05% of Lakeland Financial worth $787,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of LKFN. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in Lakeland Financial by 342.5% in the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 459 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 359.1% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 629 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 492 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in Lakeland Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $60,000. Sippican Capital Advisors bought a new position in Lakeland Financial in the first quarter valued at $223,000. Finally, Sapient Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Lakeland Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $257,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Kyra E. Clark sold 420 shares of Lakeland Financial stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.93, for a total value of $28,950.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $494,641.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Brok A. Lahrman sold 415 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.91, for a total transaction of $28,597.65. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,739 shares in the company, valued at $119,834.49. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kyra E. Clark sold 420 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.93, for a total value of $28,950.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,176 shares in the company, valued at $494,641.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,835 shares of company stock worth $862,268. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Lakeland Financial Stock Performance

Lakeland Financial stock opened at $67.75 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $63.98 and a 200-day moving average of $62.88. The firm has a market cap of $1.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.72 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Lakeland Financial Co. has a 1-year low of $44.47 and a 1-year high of $73.22.

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

Lakeland Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 25th were given 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 2.83%. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.04%.

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.