Lakeland Financial Corporation $LKFN Stock Holdings Increased by Aptus Capital Advisors LLC

Key Points

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Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN - Free Report) by 12.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 120,925 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 13,662 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC owned 0.47% of Lakeland Financial worth $7,188,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. CWM LLC grew its position in Lakeland Financial by 40.5% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 631 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in Lakeland Financial by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 12,925 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $768,000 after buying an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. grew its position in Lakeland Financial by 16.4% in the 1st quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,990 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $118,000 after buying an additional 281 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in Lakeland Financial by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 4,954 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $341,000 after buying an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC grew its position in Lakeland Financial by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 66,165 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,933,000 after buying an additional 340 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.15% of the company's stock.

Lakeland Financial Trading Up 5.3%

Shares of LKFN traded up $3.43 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $67.56. The stock had a trading volume of 223,073 shares, compared to its average volume of 160,285. Lakeland Financial Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $50.00 and a fifty-two week high of $78.61. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $63.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $61.26. The firm has a market cap of $1.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.41 and a beta of 0.63.

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

Lakeland Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 25th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 25th. Lakeland Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a "market perform" rating and set a $68.00 price objective (up previously from $65.00) on shares of Lakeland Financial in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Hovde Group upgraded shares of Lakeland Financial from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $72.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $70.00.

Insider Activity at Lakeland Financial

In other news, CFO Lisa M. O'neill sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.72, for a total value 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 represents a 6.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.