EntryPoint Capital LLC Invests $234,000 in Lakeland Financial Corporation $LKFN

Key Points

• EntryPoint Capital LLC has acquired a new stake in Lakeland Financial Corporation, purchasing 3,929 shares valued at approximately $234,000.
• Lakeland Financial reported a quarterly EPS of $1.04, exceeding analysts' expectations of $0.93, and announced a dividend of $0.50 per share.
• Analysts have recently set a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Lakeland Financial, with an average target price of $70.00.

EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 3,929 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $234,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LKFN. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 88,184 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,064,000 after purchasing an additional 3,268 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Lakeland Financial by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 51,980 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,573,000 after buying an additional 1,020 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in Lakeland Financial by 54.0% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 307,242 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $21,126,000 after buying an additional 107,765 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Lakeland Financial by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 807,525 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $55,526,000 after buying an additional 6,307 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 15,141 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,041,000 after purchasing an additional 827 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.15% of the company's stock.

Lakeland Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ:LKFN traded up $0.14 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $68.87. 32,515 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 169,447. Lakeland Financial Corporation has a twelve month low of $50.00 and a twelve month high of $78.61. The stock has a market cap of $1.76 billion, a PE ratio of 18.73 and a beta of 0.63. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $63.89 and a 200 day moving average of $61.25.

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

Lakeland Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 25th. Lakeland Financial's dividend payout ratio is 54.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lakeland Financial news, CFO Lisa M. O'neill sold 2,500 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 34,366 shares in the company, valued at $2,292,899.52. This trade represents a 6.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Eric H. Ottinger sold 4,635 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.07, for a total value of $310,869.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 32,282 shares in the company, valued at $2,165,153.74. The trade was a 12.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 7,435 shares of company stock worth $497,769. 3.00% of the stock is owned by company 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.