Insider Buying: Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) Director Acquires $579,500.00 in Stock

Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN) Director M Scott Welch acquired 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $57.95 per share, with a total value of $579,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 49,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,839,550. The trade was a 25.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Lakeland Financial Trading Down 3.2%

Shares of LKFN stock opened at $58.09 on Monday. Lakeland Financial Corporation has a 12-month low of $50.00 and a 12-month high of $69.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.49 and a beta of 0.73. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $59.47 and its 200 day moving average is $61.00.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $69.80 million for 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 firm earned $0.94 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Lakeland Financial Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Lakeland Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 5th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, January 25th were given a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 23rd. This is a positive change from Lakeland Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. Lakeland Financial’s payout ratio is 51.87%.

Institutional Trading of Lakeland Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LKFN. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 248.0% during the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 186.0% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 305 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position 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 valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 582 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 118.9% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 996 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 541 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 80.9% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,670 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $107,000 after acquiring an additional 747 shares during the period. 81.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LKFN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Lakeland Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday. Stephens set a $66.00 price target on shares of Lakeland Financial in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Hovde Group downgraded shares of Lakeland Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Lakeland Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $68.00.

About Lakeland Financial

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.