Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC Raises Holdings in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN)

Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC raised its position in shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN - Free Report) by 5.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 956,565 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 51,624 shares during the period. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC owned approximately 3.75% of Lakeland Financial worth $65,773,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Lakeland Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial in the fourth quarter worth $50,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 809.9% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 737 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares during the period. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lakeland Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $53,000. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its position in Lakeland Financial by 62.3% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,672 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $115,000 after purchasing an additional 642 shares during the period. 81.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lakeland Financial

In related news, EVP Stephanie R. Leniski sold 1,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.94, for a total transaction of $92,910.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,211 shares in the company, valued at $384,709.34. The trade was a 19.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director M Scott Welch bought 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $61.40 per share, for a total transaction of $307,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 39,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,394,600. The trade was a 14.71% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 3.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LKFN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Hovde Group upgraded Lakeland Financial from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $72.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Lakeland Financial from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th.

Lakeland Financial Stock Performance

LKFN opened at $61.68 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.99 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a 50-day moving average of $57.52 and a 200-day moving average of $65.25. Lakeland Financial Co. has a 1-year low of $50.00 and a 1-year high of $78.61.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.87 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $90.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.54 million. Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 21.74% and a return on equity of 13.31%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.91 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 25th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 25th. Lakeland Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 57.14%.

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.

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