UBS Group AG Cuts Holdings in Lakeland Financial Corporation $LKFN

Key Points

• UBS Group AG cut its stake in Lakeland Financial by 52.3% in the fourth quarter, leaving it with 38,085 shares worth about $2.17 million. Despite that reduction, institutional investors still own the vast majority of the company.
• Lakeland Financial reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings, posting $1.04 EPS versus the $1.01 consensus estimate. Revenue came in slightly below expectations at $69.71 million.
• Analysts remain cautious on LKFN, with an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $66.50. The stock was trading around $60.22 and also carries a quarterly dividend of $0.52 per share, or $2.08 annually.

UBS Group AG decreased its position in Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN - Free Report) by 52.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 38,085 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 41,719 shares during the period. UBS Group AG owned about 0.15% of Lakeland Financial worth $2,173,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,887,812 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $107,719,000 after buying an additional 19,967 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 76.4% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 41,856 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,388,000 after buying an additional 18,130 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 47.1% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 14,583 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $832,000 after buying an additional 4,672 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 434.0% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 39,447 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,251,000 after buying an additional 32,060 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 66.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 111,213 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $7,140,000 after buying an additional 44,395 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.15% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Lakeland Financial

In other news, EVP Eric H. Ottinger sold 2,136 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.49, for a total transaction of $131,342.64. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 33,257 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,044,972.93. The trade was a 6.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director M Scott Welch acquired 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $56.23 per share, with a total value 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. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders purchased 25,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,419,050 and sold 3,436 shares valued at $212,593. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on LKFN. Hovde Group lifted their price objective on shares of Lakeland Financial from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Lakeland Financial in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Lakeland Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, April 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lakeland Financial currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $66.50.

Lakeland Financial Stock Down 0.8%

LKFN stock opened at $60.22 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.10 and a beta of 0.74. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.02. Lakeland Financial Corporation has a 52 week low of $54.36 and a 52 week high of $69.40.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $69.71 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $70.42 million. Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 25.81% and a return on equity of 14.79%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.78 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Lakeland Financial Corporation will post 4.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Lakeland Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, April 25th were paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 24th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Lakeland Financial's payout ratio is currently 48.71%.

About Lakeland Financial

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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