Captrust Financial Advisors Buys 769 Shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN)

Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 15.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 5,724 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 769 shares during the quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors’ holdings in Lakeland Financial were worth $394,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LKFN. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 68,875 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,736,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 50,150 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,448,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 16,615 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,142,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 4,954 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $341,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 18.8% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $142,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Lakeland Financial

In related news, Director M Scott Welch purchased 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $61.40 per share, for a total transaction of $307,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 39,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,394,600. This represents a 14.71% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Stephanie R. Leniski sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.94, for a total value of $92,910.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $384,709.34. This trade represents a 19.45% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on LKFN shares. Hovde Group upgraded Lakeland Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $72.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Lakeland Financial from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th.

Lakeland Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LKFN opened at $61.27 on Tuesday. Lakeland Financial Co. has a 1 year low of $50.00 and a 1 year high of $78.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.88 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s 50-day moving average is $57.51 and its 200 day moving average is $65.18.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.87 by ($0.09). Lakeland Financial had a return on equity of 13.31% and a net margin of 21.74%. The firm had revenue of $90.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.54 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.91 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Lakeland Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 25th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 25th. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.14%.

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.