Teacher Retirement System of Texas Takes $229,000 Position in Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new stake in Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 3,857 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $229,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Lakeland Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in 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 last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 60.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,085 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 408 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Lakeland Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $214,000. Finally, Graham Capital Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Lakeland Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $277,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.15% of the company's stock.

Lakeland Financial Price Performance

Shares of LKFN stock traded up $0.53 on Tuesday, reaching $65.78. The company had a trading volume of 36,362 shares, compared to its average volume of 143,254. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.68 billion, a PE ratio of 18.77 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The business's 50-day moving average is $61.56 and its 200 day moving average is $61.92. Lakeland Financial Corporation has a one year low of $50.00 and a one year high of $78.61.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.87 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $90.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the firm posted $0.91 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Lakeland Financial Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 25th. Lakeland Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on LKFN. Hovde Group upgraded Lakeland Financial from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $72.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Lakeland Financial from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lakeland Financial

In other news, Director Melinda Jo Truex purchased 8,309 shares of Lakeland Financial stock in a transaction dated 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 acquisition, the director owned 16,507 shares in the company, valued at approximately $992,235.77. This trade represents a 101.35% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

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.