California State Teachers Retirement System Has $1.64 Million Position in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN)

California State Teachers Retirement System trimmed its position in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 23,792 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 293 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.09% of Lakeland Financial worth $1,636,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position 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 valued at $133,419,000 after purchasing an additional 100,001 shares during the last quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC boosted its stake in Lakeland Financial by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 956,565 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $65,773,000 after purchasing an additional 51,624 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 946,280 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $65,066,000 after buying an additional 43,312 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position 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 valued at $55,526,000 after acquiring an additional 6,307 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Lakeland Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $23,111,000. 81.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lakeland Financial Price Performance

Shares of LKFN opened at $60.41 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $57.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $63.95. Lakeland Financial Co. has a one year low of $50.00 and a one year high of $78.61. The company has a market cap of $1.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.64 and a beta of 0.60.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.87 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $90.46 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.54 million. Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 21.74% and a return on equity of 13.31%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.91 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Investors of record on Friday, April 25th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 25th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.31%. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lakeland Financial

In other news, EVP Stephanie R. Leniski sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $384,709.34. This trade represents a 19.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Melinda Jo Truex bought 8,309 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $60.11 per share, with a total value of $499,453.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,507 shares in the company, valued at $992,235.77. The trade was a 101.35% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on LKFN. 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 report on Tuesday, May 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Lakeland Financial from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th.

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.