MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. Raises Stake in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN)

MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 3.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 528 shares during the quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. owned approximately 0.06% of Lakeland Financial worth $973,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,940,356 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $133,419,000 after buying an additional 100,001 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 946,280 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $65,066,000 after purchasing an additional 43,312 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 807,525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $55,526,000 after purchasing an additional 6,307 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 764,186 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $52,545,000 after buying an additional 18,247 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial in the fourth quarter worth $23,111,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LKFN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Lakeland Financial from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Hovde Group raised shares of Lakeland Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $72.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th.

Lakeland Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LKFN opened at $58.64 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $57.34 and a 200 day moving average of $64.92. Lakeland Financial Co. has a 52-week low of $50.00 and a 52-week high of $78.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.50 billion, a PE ratio of 16.15 and a beta of 0.58.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $90.46 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.54 million. Lakeland Financial had a return on equity of 13.31% and a net margin of 21.74%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.91 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 25th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 25th. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lakeland Financial

In other news, SVP Donald Robinson-Gay sold 550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.25, for a total value of $36,437.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,974 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $329,527.50. This represents a 9.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Stephanie R. Leniski sold 1,500 shares of Lakeland Financial stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.94, for a total transaction of $92,910.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $384,709.34. The trade was a 19.45% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

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.