Hovde Group Upgrades Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) to Outperform

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at Hovde Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report issued on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage presently has a $72.00 target price on the financial services provider's stock. Hovde Group's price target would suggest a potential upside of 20.74% from the company's previous close.

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Lakeland Financial from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th.

Lakeland Financial Stock Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ LKFN traded down $0.30 on Tuesday, reaching $59.63. The company had a trading volume of 101,038 shares, compared to its average volume of 136,955. Lakeland Financial has a 52 week low of $50.00 and a 52 week high of $78.61. The stock's 50 day moving average is $57.59 and its 200-day moving average is $65.35. The stock has a market cap of $1.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.43 and a beta of 0.58.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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). Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 21.74% and a return on equity of 13.31%. The firm had revenue of $90.46 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.54 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.91 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Lakeland Financial will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lakeland Financial news, EVP Stephanie R. Leniski sold 1,500 shares of Lakeland Financial stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.94, for a total value of $92,910.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $384,709.34. The trade was a 19.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Donald Robinson-Gay sold 550 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.25, for a total transaction of $36,437.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,974 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $329,527.50. This represents a 9.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Lakeland Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. CWM LLC lifted its stake in Lakeland Financial by 40.5% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 631 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Lakeland Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $50,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 809.9% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 737 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 656 shares during the last quarter. Finally, VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $53,000. Institutional investors own 81.15% 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.