Deutsche Bank AG Purchases 5,651 Shares of Lakeland Financial Corporation $LKFN

Key Points

• Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in Lakeland Financial Corporation by 24.7% in the first quarter, owning approximately 0.11% of the company valued at $1.69 million.
• Lakeland Financial recently reported earnings of $1.04 per share for the quarter, surpassing the consensus estimate of $0.93, along with a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share.
• Wall Street analysts have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" on Lakeland Financial, with a target price of $70.00 as per recent reports.

Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in shares of Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN - Free Report) by 24.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 28,497 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 5,651 shares during the quarter. Deutsche Bank AG owned 0.11% of Lakeland Financial worth $1,694,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LKFN. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 5.6% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 999,033 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $59,383,000 after buying an additional 52,753 shares during the period. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 956,565 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $65,773,000 after buying an additional 51,624 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 807,525 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $55,526,000 after buying an additional 6,307 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 54.0% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 307,242 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $21,126,000 after buying an additional 107,765 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 1.5% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 181,034 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $10,761,000 after buying an additional 2,666 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.15% of the company's stock.

Lakeland Financial Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of LKFN stock traded up $0.53 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $68.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 116,820 shares, compared to its average volume of 145,477. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $63.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $61.25. The company has a market cap of $1.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.63 and a beta of 0.63. Lakeland Financial Corporation has a one year low of $50.00 and a one year high of $78.61.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN - Get Free Report) last announced 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. 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 previous year, the firm posted $0.87 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Lakeland Financial Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Lakeland Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 25th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 25th. Lakeland Financial's dividend payout ratio is 54.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lakeland Financial

In other Lakeland Financial news, EVP Eric H. Ottinger sold 4,635 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.07, for a total transaction of $310,869.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 32,282 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,165,153.74. This represents a 12.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Lisa M. O'neill sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.72, for a total transaction of $166,800.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 34,366 shares in the company, 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. Insiders have sold 7,435 shares of company stock worth $497,769 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on LKFN. Hovde Group upgraded shares of Lakeland Financial from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $72.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $68.00 price target (up previously from $65.00) on shares of Lakeland Financial in a report on Monday, July 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $70.00.

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.