American Century Companies Inc. Raises Holdings in Lakeland Financial Corporation $LKFN

American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 2.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 130,555 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,663 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.51% of Lakeland Financial worth $7,760,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Lakeland Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. CWM LLC grew its stake in Lakeland Financial by 40.5% in 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 period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Lakeland Financial by 60.3% in 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 period. Harbour Investments Inc. grew its stake in Lakeland Financial by 16.4% in the 1st quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,990 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $118,000 after acquiring an additional 281 shares during the period. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new stake in Lakeland Financial in the 1st quarter worth approximately $229,000. 81.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lakeland Financial

In related news, CFO Lisa M. O’neill sold 2,500 shares of Lakeland Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.72, for a total transaction of $166,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 34,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,292,899.52. The trade was a 6.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Eric H. Ottinger sold 4,635 shares of Lakeland Financial stock in a transaction on Monday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.07, for a total transaction of $310,869.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 32,282 shares in the company, valued at $2,165,153.74. The trade was a 12.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 7,435 shares of company stock valued at $497,769 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Lakeland Financial Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ LKFN opened at $68.38 on Thursday. Lakeland Financial Corporation has a 52-week low of $50.00 and a 52-week high of $78.61. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $63.69 and a 200-day moving average of $61.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.75 billion, a PE ratio of 18.63 and a beta of 0.63.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.11. Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 22.55% and a return on equity of 13.57%. The company had revenue of $63.36 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $67.02 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.87 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Lakeland Financial Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 25th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 25th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Lakeland Financial’s payout ratio is currently 54.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on LKFN shares. Hovde Group raised shares of Lakeland Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $72.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $68.00 target price (up from $65.00) on shares of Lakeland Financial in a research note on Monday, July 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.00.

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.