Copeland Capital Management LLC Has $44.02 Million Stake in Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN)

Copeland Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN - Free Report) by 3.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 740,622 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 23,564 shares during the quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC owned about 2.85% of Lakeland Financial worth $44,023,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Lakeland Financial by 12.6% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 20,786 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,253,000 after acquiring an additional 2,325 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 3.2% during the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 13,915 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $827,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lakeland Financial in the first quarter valued at $328,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 60.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,085 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 408 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Snowden Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Lakeland Financial by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,610 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $592,000 after purchasing an additional 796 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.15% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Hovde Group raised 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 report on Tuesday, May 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Lakeland Financial from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Melinda Jo Truex bought 8,309 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was bought at an average cost 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 represents a 101.35% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 3.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Lakeland Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LKFN traded up $2.20 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $63.65. 179,376 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 142,288. Lakeland Financial Corporation has a 12 month low of $50.00 and a 12 month high of $78.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $59.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.37. The firm has a market cap of $1.63 billion, a PE ratio of 18.19 and a beta of 0.60.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.87 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $90.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.54 million. Lakeland Financial had a return on equity of 12.71% and a net margin of 21.08%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.91 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Lakeland Financial Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 25th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 25th. Lakeland Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 57.14%.

Lakeland Financial Company Profile

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.