Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) Rating Increased to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

LKFN has been the subject of a number of other reports. Hovde Group lowered shares of Lakeland Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $68.00 price objective (down from $74.00) on shares of Lakeland Financial in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Lakeland Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Lakeland Financial from $68.00 to $66.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Stephens set a $66.00 target price on shares of Lakeland Financial in a report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $68.00.

Lakeland Financial Trading Up 0.6%

NASDAQ LKFN opened at $59.60 on Friday. Lakeland Financial has a one year low of $50.00 and a one year high of $70.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market cap of $1.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.86 and a beta of 0.73. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $58.77 and its 200-day moving average is $61.44.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The financial services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $69.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $69.45 million. Lakeland Financial had a return on equity of 14.19% and a net margin of 24.51%.During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.94 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Lakeland Financial will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Lakeland Financial

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 13.0% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 60,794 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,614,000 after purchasing an additional 6,987 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Lakeland Financial by 90.5% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 32,427 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,927,000 after buying an additional 15,404 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in Lakeland Financial by 5.1% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 14,868 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $884,000 after buying an additional 716 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 327.9% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 199,323 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,848,000 after buying an additional 152,738 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial in the first quarter valued at approximately $215,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

Lakeland Financial Company Profile

Lakeland Financial Corporation is a bank holding company based in Warsaw, Indiana, that operates through its principal subsidiary, Lakeland Bank. The company offers a full range of commercial and consumer banking services, including deposit products such as checking accounts, savings accounts and certificates of deposit, as well as a variety of loan offerings spanning commercial real estate, agricultural, mortgage, consumer and small-business lending.

Originally organized in 1893 as Kosciusko County State Bank, the enterprise reorganized as a bank holding company in 1984 to facilitate strategic growth and diversification.