GAMMA Investing LLC Boosts Holdings in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN)

GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN - Free Report) by 9,426.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 64,492 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 63,815 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC owned 0.25% of Lakeland Financial worth $3,833,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Lakeland Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 809.9% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 737 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 656 shares during the period. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in Lakeland Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $53,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 18.8% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,062 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $142,000 after acquiring an additional 326 shares during the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,480 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $171,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.15% of the company's stock.

Lakeland Financial Stock Down 2.7%

NASDAQ:LKFN traded down $1.66 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $58.92. 103,738 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 140,237. Lakeland Financial Co. has a 52 week low of $50.00 and a 52 week high of $78.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.23 and a beta of 0.60. The firm's 50 day moving average is $57.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $63.52.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.87 by ($0.09). Lakeland Financial had a return on equity of 13.31% and a net margin of 21.74%. The business had revenue of $90.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.54 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.91 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Lakeland Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Investors of record on Friday, April 25th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 25th. Lakeland Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 57.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Melinda Jo Truex acquired 8,309 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 16,507 shares in the company, valued at approximately $992,235.77. This represents a 101.35% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Stephanie R. Leniski sold 1,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.94, for a total transaction of $92,910.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,211 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $384,709.34. This trade represents a 19.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LKFN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective 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. 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 research note on Tuesday, May 6th.

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.