Lakeland Financial Corporation $LKFN Stake Cut by Vanguard Group Inc.

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its holdings in Lakeland Financial Corporation by 2.4%, now owning over 1.89 million shares worth approximately $112.5 million.
• Research analysts have upgraded Lakeland Financial's rating, with Hovde Group raising it to "outperform" and setting a target price of $72.00.
• Lakeland Financial recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50, translating to a 3.0% yield and a 54.5% payout ratio.

Vanguard Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN - Free Report) by 2.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,892,943 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 47,413 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 7.41% of Lakeland Financial worth $112,517,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in Lakeland Financial by 54.0% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 307,242 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $21,126,000 after purchasing an additional 107,765 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Lakeland Financial by 9,426.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 64,492 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,833,000 after purchasing an additional 63,815 shares during the last quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 5.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 51,624 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 42.2% during the fourth quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 107,263 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $7,375,000 after buying an additional 31,845 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,509,000. Institutional investors own 81.15% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Lakeland Financial

In other Lakeland Financial news, EVP Eric H. Ottinger sold 4,635 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.07, for a total transaction of $310,869.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 32,282 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,165,153.74. The trade was a 12.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Lisa M. O'neill sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.72, for a total transaction of $166,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 34,366 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,292,899.52. The trade was a 6.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 7,435 shares of company stock worth $497,769 in the last three months. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Lakeland Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LKFN traded up $0.02 during trading on Thursday, hitting $68.40. The company had a trading volume of 15,927 shares, compared to its average volume of 169,437. Lakeland Financial Corporation has a 52 week low of $50.00 and a 52 week high of $78.61. The business's 50-day moving average is $63.69 and its 200 day moving average is $61.25. The company has a market cap of $1.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.64 and a beta of 0.63.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $63.36 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $67.02 million. Lakeland Financial had a return on equity of 13.57% and a net margin of 22.55%.During the same period last year, the company posted $0.87 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Lakeland Financial Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Lakeland Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 5th. Investors of record on Friday, July 25th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 25th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. Lakeland Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LKFN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $68.00 target price (up from $65.00) on shares of Lakeland Financial in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Hovde Group raised Lakeland Financial from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $72.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $70.00.

Lakeland Financial 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.