New Age Alpha Advisors LLC Invests $1.51 Million in Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN)

Key Points

• New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased 25,381 shares of Lakeland Financial Corporation, valued at approximately $1.51 million, increasing its stake to 0.10% of the company.
• Research analysts have set revised target prices for Lakeland Financial, with Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increasing its price target to $68.00 and Hovde Group upgrading its rating to “outperform” with a $72.00 target.
• Lakeland Financial recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 3.3% with a payout ratio of 54.50%.

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 25,381 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,509,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC owned 0.10% of Lakeland Financial as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 16.4% during the 1st quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,990 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $118,000 after buying an additional 281 shares in the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors bought a new stake in Lakeland Financial during the 1st quarter valued at $234,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of Lakeland Financial during the 1st quarter valued at $765,000. LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in Lakeland Financial by 0.5% in the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 66,165 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,933,000 after acquiring an additional 340 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Heartland Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Lakeland Financial by 13.0% in the first quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. now owns 25,211 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,499,000 after acquiring an additional 2,892 shares during the last quarter. 81.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Lisa M. O'neill sold 2,500 shares of Lakeland Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were 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 approximately $2,292,899.52. The trade was a 6.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Melinda Jo Truex bought 8,309 shares of Lakeland Financial stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $60.11 per share, for a total transaction of $499,453.99. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 16,507 shares in the company, valued at approximately $992,235.77. The trade was a 101.35% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Lakeland Financial Stock Up 2.2%

Shares of LKFN stock traded up $1.35 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $61.67. 27,997 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 171,261. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $62.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $61.44. Lakeland Financial Corporation has a 12-month low of $50.00 and a 12-month high of $78.61. The stock has a market cap of $1.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.80 and a beta of 0.63.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $63.36 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 last year, the firm earned $0.87 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast 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 Tuesday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 25th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 25th. Lakeland Financial's payout ratio is 54.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $68.00 target price (up previously from $65.00) on shares of Lakeland Financial in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Hovde Group upgraded Lakeland Financial from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $72.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th.

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.