Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Has $458,000 Stock Position in Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its position in Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 5.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,711 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Lakeland Financial were worth $458,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in Lakeland Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. CWM LLC grew its position in Lakeland Financial by 40.5% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 631 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its position in Lakeland Financial by 809.9% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 737 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Lakeland Financial by 60.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,085 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 408 shares during the last quarter. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Lakeland Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $214,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on LKFN. Hovde Group upgraded Lakeland Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $72.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and set a $68.00 price target (up from $65.00) on shares of Lakeland Financial in a research report on Monday, July 28th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lakeland Financial

In other Lakeland Financial news, Director Melinda Jo Truex acquired 8,309 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $60.11 per share, with a total value of $499,453.99. Following the purchase, the director owned 16,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $992,235.77. This represents a 101.35% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Lisa M. O’neill sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.72, for a total value of $166,800.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 34,366 shares in the company, valued at $2,292,899.52. The trade was a 6.78% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Lakeland Financial Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of LKFN opened at $61.07 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.64 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $62.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $61.69. Lakeland Financial Corporation has a 52 week low of $50.00 and a 52 week high of $78.61.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.11. Lakeland Financial had a return on equity of 13.57% and a net margin of 22.55%. The business had revenue of $63.36 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $67.02 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.87 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Lakeland Financial Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Lakeland Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 25th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 25th. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.50%.

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.