Lakeland Financial’s (LKFN) “Outperform” Rating Reaffirmed at Raymond James Financial

Raymond James Financial reissued their outperform rating on shares of Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) in a research report released on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has a $68.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock, down from their previous price target of $74.00.

Several other analysts have also commented on LKFN. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Lakeland Financial in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Lakeland Financial from $68.00 to $66.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lakeland Financial currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.67.

Lakeland Financial Price Performance

Shares of LKFN opened at $58.22 on Tuesday. Lakeland Financial has a one year low of $50.00 and a one year high of $78.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.36 and a beta of 0.59. The business has a fifty day moving average of $64.36 and a 200 day moving average of $61.88.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.01. Lakeland Financial had a return on equity of 13.77% and a net margin of 23.23%.The company had revenue of $69.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $69.15 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.91 earnings per share. Lakeland Financial’s revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Lakeland Financial will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 5th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, October 25th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 24th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lakeland Financial news, EVP Eric H. Ottinger sold 4,635 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.07, for a total value of $310,869.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 32,282 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,165,153.74. This trade represents a 12.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lakeland Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LKFN. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 248.0% in the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 186.0% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial in the first quarter worth $33,000. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 40.5% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 631 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 1,212.5% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 582 shares in the last quarter. 81.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.