Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.50

Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, July 8th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 25th will be given a dividend of 0.50 per share by the financial services provider on Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 25th.

Lakeland Financial has a payout ratio of 49.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Lakeland Financial to earn $3.90 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 51.3%.

Lakeland Financial Stock Down 0.2%

NASDAQ:LKFN traded down $0.15 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $64.77. The company had a trading volume of 177,224 shares, compared to its average volume of 143,076. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.51 and a beta of 0.60. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $60.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.21. Lakeland Financial has a 12-month low of $50.00 and a 12-month high of $78.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.87 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $90.46 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $63.54 million. Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 21.08% and a return on equity of 12.71%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.91 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lakeland Financial will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lakeland Financial news, Director Melinda Jo Truex purchased 8,309 shares of the business'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 in the company, valued at approximately $992,235.77. This represents a 101.35% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lakeland Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Lakeland Financial by 327.9% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 199,323 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $11,848,000 after buying an additional 152,738 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial during the first quarter worth about $6,500,000. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 13.0% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 60,794 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,614,000 after purchasing an additional 6,987 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 25.4% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 48,803 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,901,000 after purchasing an additional 9,894 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 90.5% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 32,427 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,927,000 after purchasing an additional 15,404 shares in the last quarter. 81.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on LKFN shares. Hovde Group upgraded Lakeland Financial from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $72.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Lakeland Financial from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th.

About Lakeland Financial

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.