Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN) Shares Sold by SYM FINANCIAL Corp

SYM FINANCIAL Corp trimmed its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN - Free Report) by 27.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,648 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 7,379 shares during the quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp owned approximately 0.08% of Lakeland Financial worth $1,168,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial in the 1st quarter worth approximately $310,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial in the 1st quarter worth approximately $827,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 25.0% in the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 10,500 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $624,000 after buying an additional 2,100 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 40.5% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 631 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 8.6% in the 1st quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 15,600 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $927,000 after buying an additional 1,240 shares during the last quarter. 81.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Lakeland Financial Stock Performance

LKFN traded up $1.76 on Friday, reaching $66.02. 309,558 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 212,369. The company's 50-day moving average price is $61.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $61.92. Lakeland Financial Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $50.00 and a fifty-two week high of $78.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.69 billion, a PE ratio of 18.86 and a beta of 0.60.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.11. Lakeland Financial had a return on equity of 12.71% and a net margin of 21.08%. The business had revenue of $63.36 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $67.02 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.87 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Lakeland Financial Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 25th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 25th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.03%. Lakeland Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.14%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Melinda Jo Truex purchased 8,309 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $60.11 per share, for a total transaction of $499,453.99. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 16,507 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $992,235.77. This trade represents a 101.35% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 3.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.