Citigroup Inc. Lowers Position in Lakeland Financial Corporation $LKFN

Citigroup Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 32.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,684 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 13,070 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. owned 0.11% of Lakeland Financial worth $1,777,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew 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 acquiring an additional 315 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 305 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted 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 period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings 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 worth $107,000 after purchasing an additional 747 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in Lakeland Financial in the first quarter worth approximately $215,000. Institutional investors own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Lakeland Financial

In other news, Director Bradley J. Toothaker sold 5,685 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.36, for a total value of $331,776.60. Following the transaction, the director owned 20,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,177,588.08. The trade was a 21.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director M Scott Welch bought 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The shares were bought at an average price of $57.95 per share, with a total value of $579,500.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 49,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,839,550. The trade was a 25.64% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LKFN has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Lakeland Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday. Stephens set a $66.00 price target on Lakeland Financial in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Hovde Group lowered Lakeland Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated 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 assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $68.00.

Lakeland Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Lakeland Financial stock opened at $56.88 on Monday. Lakeland Financial Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $50.00 and a fifty-two week high of $69.40. The company has a market capitalization of $1.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.18 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a fifty day moving average of $59.35 and a 200 day moving average of $60.82.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 26th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.02. The business 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $0.94 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Lakeland Financial Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Lakeland Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 5th. Investors of record on Sunday, January 25th were issued a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 23rd. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. This is a boost from Lakeland Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Lakeland Financial’s payout ratio is presently 51.87%.

Lakeland Financial 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.