SG Americas Securities LLC Takes Position in Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN)

SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 5,512 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $328,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Lakeland Financial by 60.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,085 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 408 shares during the period. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,610 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $592,000 after buying an additional 796 shares during the period. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC boosted its stake in Lakeland Financial by 5.7% during 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 in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in Lakeland Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in Lakeland Financial by 53.5% in the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 4,689 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $322,000 after acquiring an additional 1,635 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.15% of the company's stock.

Lakeland Financial Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of LKFN traded down $0.01 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $61.39. The stock had a trading volume of 684,314 shares, compared to its average volume of 142,591. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $62.61. The firm has a market cap of $1.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.54 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Lakeland Financial Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $50.00 and a fifty-two week high of $78.61.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.87 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $90.46 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.54 million. Lakeland Financial had a return on equity of 12.71% and a net margin of 21.08%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.91 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Lakeland Financial Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Lakeland Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Investors of record on Friday, April 25th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 25th. Lakeland Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 57.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Melinda Jo Truex purchased 8,309 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $60.11 per share, for a total transaction of $499,453.99. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 16,507 shares in the company, valued at $992,235.77. This trade represents a 101.35% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on LKFN shares. Hovde Group raised shares of Lakeland Financial from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $72.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Lakeland Financial from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th.

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.