12,864 Shares in Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN) Purchased by GSA Capital Partners LLP

Key Points

• GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired 12,864 shares of Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN) valued at approximately $765,000, representing about 0.05% ownership.
• Insider transactions include Director Melinda Jo Truex purchasing 8,309 shares, increasing her ownership by 101.35%, while CFO Lisa M. O'Neill sold 2,500 shares, reducing her position by 6.78%.
• Lakeland Financial recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50, with an annualized yield of 3.2%, following a positive earnings report that exceeded analysts' expectations.

GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 12,864 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $765,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP owned about 0.05% of Lakeland Financial as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWM LLC raised its position 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 valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 4,954 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $341,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 0.5% in the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 66,165 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,933,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 5.6% in the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 7,711 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $458,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the period. 81.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lakeland Financial news, Director Melinda Jo Truex acquired 8,309 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was bought at an average price of $60.11 per share, with a total value of $499,453.99. Following the purchase, the director owned 16,507 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $992,235.77. This trade represents a 101.35% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Lisa M. O'neill sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.72, for a total transaction of $166,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 34,366 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,292,899.52. This trade represents a 6.78% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LKFN has been the topic of several research reports. Hovde Group raised shares of Lakeland Financial from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $72.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $68.00 target price (up previously from $65.00) on shares of Lakeland Financial in a report on Monday, July 28th.

Lakeland Financial Stock Performance

Lakeland Financial stock opened at $61.60 on Friday. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $62.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $61.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.57 billion, a PE ratio of 16.78 and a beta of 0.60. Lakeland Financial Corporation has a 1-year low of $50.00 and a 1-year high of $78.61.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $63.36 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $67.02 million. Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 22.55% and a return on equity of 13.57%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.87 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Lakeland Financial Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 25th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 25th. Lakeland Financial's payout ratio is currently 54.50%.

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.

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