Lakeland Financial Corporation $LKFN Shares Sold by Boston Trust Walden Corp

Key Points

• Boston Trust Walden cut its stake in Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 7.8%, selling 29,012 shares and leaving it with 344,319 shares (~1.35% ownership, ~$19.65M); institutional investors now own about 81.15% of the company, with large increases from First Trust, Millennium and Bank of America.
• Analysts carry an average "Hold" rating with a consensus target of $68, while Lakeland recently beat Q4 EPS estimates ($1.07 vs. $1.05), trades at a P/E of ~14.9 and pays a $0.52 quarterly dividend (annualized yield ~3.5%).

Boston Trust Walden Corp cut its stake in Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN - Free Report) by 7.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 344,319 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 29,012 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp owned approximately 1.35% of Lakeland Financial worth $19,647,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 403.6% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 383,525 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $23,568,000 after acquiring an additional 307,371 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 327.9% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 199,323 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $11,848,000 after acquiring an additional 152,738 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 68.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 321,031 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $20,610,000 after acquiring an additional 130,897 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial during the 1st quarter worth approximately $6,500,000. Finally, TrueMark Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 504.6% during the 3rd quarter. TrueMark Investments LLC now owns 93,375 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,995,000 after acquiring an additional 77,930 shares in the last quarter. 81.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LKFN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Hovde Group lowered Lakeland Financial from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Stephens set a $66.00 price target on Lakeland Financial in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Lakeland Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Lakeland Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $68.00.

Lakeland Financial Stock Performance

LKFN stock opened at $59.60 on Thursday. Lakeland Financial Corporation has a 1 year low of $50.00 and a 1 year high of $69.40. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $58.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.05. The firm has a market cap of $1.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.86 and a beta of 0.72.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.02. Lakeland Financial had a return on equity of 14.19% and a net margin of 24.51%.The firm had revenue of $69.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $69.45 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.94 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Lakeland Financial Corporation will post 4.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Lakeland Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 5th. Investors of record on Saturday, April 25th will be paid a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 24th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. Lakeland Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 51.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Bradley J. Toothaker sold 5,685 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.36, for a total value of $331,776.60. Following the sale, the director owned 20,178 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,177,588.08. This represents a 21.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director M Scott Welch bought 10,000 shares of Lakeland Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $56.23 per share, for a total transaction of $562,300.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 212,006 shares in the company, valued at $11,921,097.38. This represents a 4.95% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders purchased 25,000 shares of company stock worth $1,419,050. 3.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Lakeland Financial Company Profile

Lakeland Financial Corporation is a bank holding company based in Warsaw, Indiana, that operates through its principal subsidiary, Lakeland Bank. The company offers a full range of commercial and consumer banking services, including deposit products such as checking accounts, savings accounts and certificates of deposit, as well as a variety of loan offerings spanning commercial real estate, agricultural, mortgage, consumer and small-business lending.

Originally organized in 1893 as Kosciusko County State Bank, the enterprise reorganized as a bank holding company in 1984 to facilitate strategic growth and diversification.

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