Lakeland Financial Corporation $LKFN Stake Raised by Aptus Capital Advisors LLC

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 15.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 153,038 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 20,193 shares during the quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.60% of Lakeland Financial worth $9,825,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 248.0% during 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 during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 186.0% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 305 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Lakeland Financial by 1,212.5% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 582 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Lakeland Financial by 80.9% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,670 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $107,000 after purchasing an additional 747 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in Lakeland Financial in the 1st quarter worth about $215,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on LKFN. Stephens set a $66.00 price target on Lakeland Financial in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Hovde Group cut shares of Lakeland Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Wall Street Zen cut Lakeland Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Lakeland Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lakeland Financial has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $68.00.

Insider Activity

In other Lakeland Financial news, Director Bradley J. Toothaker sold 5,685 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.36, for a total transaction of $331,776.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 20,178 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,177,588.08. This represents a 21.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director M Scott Welch bought 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $57.95 per share, for a total transaction of $579,500.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 49,000 shares in the company, valued at $2,839,550. The trade was a 25.64% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Lakeland Financial Stock Performance

Shares of LKFN opened at $56.88 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $59.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $60.86. The company has a market cap of $1.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.18 and a beta of 0.73. Lakeland Financial Corporation has a 52-week low of $50.00 and a 52-week high of $69.40.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 26th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $69.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $69.45 million. Lakeland Financial had a return on equity of 14.19% and a net margin of 24.51%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.94 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Lakeland Financial Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 5th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, January 25th were paid 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. Lakeland Financial’s payout ratio is presently 51.87%.

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.