American Century Companies Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN)

American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN - Free Report) by 18.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 105,703 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 16,279 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.42% of Lakeland Financial worth $5,017,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in LKFN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 13.6% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 26,618 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,942,000 after buying an additional 3,183 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 3,075 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $224,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. raised its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 22.1% in the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 24,033 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,755,000 after acquiring an additional 4,357 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 56.0% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 13,025 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $951,000 after acquiring an additional 4,675 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 14.1% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 21,812 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,592,000 after purchasing an additional 2,691 shares during the period. 81.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lakeland Financial Trading Up 1.5 %

NASDAQ:LKFN traded up $0.96 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $66.32. The company had a trading volume of 184,631 shares, compared to its average volume of 132,920. Lakeland Financial Co. has a 1 year low of $43.05 and a 1 year high of $73.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company has a market cap of $1.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.17 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a 50-day moving average of $65.03 and a 200 day moving average of $58.62.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $65.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.81 million. Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 23.85% and a return on equity of 14.89%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.01 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Lakeland Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 25th were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 24th. This is a positive change from Lakeland Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.90%. Lakeland Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 52.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on LKFN. Raymond James lifted their price target on Lakeland Financial from $60.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. TheStreet raised shares of Lakeland Financial from a "c+" rating to a "b-" rating in a research note on Monday, December 4th. Finally, Stephens upped their price objective on shares of Lakeland Financial from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Stephanie R. Leniski sold 2,560 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.17, for a total transaction of $161,715.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,270 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $269,735.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Stephanie R. Leniski sold 2,560 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.17, for a total transaction of $161,715.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,270 shares of the company's stock, valued at $269,735.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Donald Robinson-Gay sold 893 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.93, for a total transaction of $58,875.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 3,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $209,261.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 53,728 shares of company stock valued at $3,670,449 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.30% 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.