Lakeland Financial (LKFN) Competitors

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) and Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) (NYSE:HOMB) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, media sentiment, risk, community ranking, profitability, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings and valuation.

Does the media refer more to LKFN or HOMB?

In the previous week, Lakeland Financial had 1 more articles in the media than Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR). MarketBeat recorded 14 mentions for Lakeland Financial and 13 mentions for Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR). Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR)'s average media sentiment score of 1.16 beat Lakeland Financial's score of -0.09 indicating that Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Lakeland Financial	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	5 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR)	8 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of LKFN or HOMB?

81.2% of Lakeland Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 67.3% of Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.0% of Lakeland Financial shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 6.3% of Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Is LKFN or HOMB a better dividend stock?

Lakeland Financial pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Lakeland Financial pays out 57.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) pays out 38.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Lakeland Financial has raised its dividend for 14 consecutive years and Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) has raised its dividend for 14 consecutive years.

Which has higher earnings and valuation, LKFN or HOMB?

Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) has higher revenue and earnings than Lakeland Financial. Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Lakeland Financial, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lakeland Financial	$257.30M	5.69	$93.48M	$3.50	16.07
Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR)	$1.01B	5.49	$402.24M	$2.10	13.38

Which has more risk and volatility, LKFN or HOMB?

Lakeland Financial has a beta of 0.64, indicating that its share price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) has a beta of 0.93, indicating that its share price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer LKFN or HOMB?

Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) received 131 more outperform votes than Lakeland Financial when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 59.93% of users gave Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) an outperform vote while only 56.34% of users gave Lakeland Financial an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Lakeland Financial	Outperform Votes 373 56.34%	Underperform Votes 289 43.66%
Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR)	Outperform Votes 504 59.93%	Underperform Votes 337 40.07%

Do analysts rate LKFN or HOMB?

Lakeland Financial presently has a consensus target price of $65.50, indicating a potential upside of 16.44%. Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) has a consensus target price of $32.40, indicating a potential upside of 15.35%. Given Lakeland Financial's higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Lakeland Financial is more favorable than Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR).

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lakeland Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR)	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.60

Is LKFN or HOMB more profitable?

Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) has a net margin of 27.39% compared to Lakeland Financial's net margin of 21.74%. Lakeland Financial's return on equity of 13.31% beat Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR)'s return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lakeland Financial	21.74%	13.31%	1.35%
Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR)	27.39%	10.31%	1.77%

Summary

Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) beats Lakeland Financial on 12 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.