Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Has $59.38 Million Stock Position in Lakeland Financial Corporation $LKFN

Key Points

• Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Lakeland Financial Corporation to approximately $59.38 million, owning 999,033 shares after a 5.6% boost during the first quarter.
• Lakeland Financial recently reported $1.04 earnings per share, surpassing analyst expectations and showing a net margin of 22.55% despite revenue falling short of estimates.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, yielding 3.2%, with a dividend payout ratio currently at 54.50%.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN - Free Report) by 5.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 999,033 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 52,753 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 3.91% of Lakeland Financial worth $59,383,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in LKFN. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Lakeland Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $23,111,000. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in Lakeland Financial by 54.0% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 307,242 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $21,126,000 after acquiring an additional 107,765 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Lakeland Financial by 9,426.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 64,492 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,833,000 after acquiring an additional 63,815 shares in the last quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC lifted its position in Lakeland Financial by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 956,565 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $65,773,000 after acquiring an additional 51,624 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Lakeland Financial by 42.2% in the 4th quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 107,263 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $7,375,000 after acquiring an additional 31,845 shares in the last quarter. 81.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Melinda Jo Truex bought 8,309 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $60.11 per share, for a total transaction 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Lisa M. O'neill sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 34,366 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,292,899.52. This trade represents a 6.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on LKFN shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and issued a $68.00 price objective (up from $65.00) on shares of Lakeland Financial in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Hovde Group raised shares of Lakeland Financial from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $72.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $70.00.

Lakeland Financial Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of Lakeland Financial stock traded up $0.46 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $63.99. 103,415 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 165,058. The company has a 50 day moving average of $62.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $61.27. Lakeland Financial Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $50.00 and a fifty-two week high of $78.61. The stock has a market cap of $1.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.44 and a beta of 0.63.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $67.02 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business 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 company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 5th. Investors of record on Friday, July 25th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 25th. Lakeland Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.