Lakeland Financial (LKFN) Competitors

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

Does the media refer more to HOMB or LKFN?

In the previous week, Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) had 6 more articles in the media than Lakeland Financial. MarketBeat recorded 8 mentions for Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) and 2 mentions for Lakeland Financial. Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR)'s average media sentiment score of 1.47 beat Lakeland Financial's score of 0.57 indicating that Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR)	7 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Lakeland Financial	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has better valuation and earnings, HOMB or LKFN?

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
Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR)	$1.01B	5.49	$402.24M	$2.10	13.44
Lakeland Financial	$257.30M	5.91	$93.48M	$3.50	17.00

Do institutionals and insiders believe in HOMB or LKFN?

67.3% of Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 81.2% of Lakeland Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 6.3% of Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 3.0% of Lakeland Financial shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor HOMB or LKFN?

Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) received 130 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 56.41% of users gave Lakeland Financial an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR)	Outperform Votes 504 59.93%	Underperform Votes 337 40.07%
Lakeland Financial	Outperform Votes 374 56.41%	Underperform Votes 289 43.59%

Do analysts prefer HOMB or LKFN?

Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) presently has a consensus target price of $32.40, suggesting a potential upside of 14.79%. Lakeland Financial has a consensus target price of $68.50, suggesting a potential upside of 15.14%. Given Lakeland Financial's higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Lakeland Financial is more favorable than Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR).

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR)	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.60
Lakeland Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Which has more volatility & risk, HOMB or LKFN?

Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) has a beta of 0.79, indicating that its stock price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lakeland Financial has a beta of 0.58, indicating that its stock price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is HOMB or LKFN 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
Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR)	27.39%	10.31%	1.77%
Lakeland Financial	21.74%	13.31%	1.35%

Is HOMB or LKFN a better dividend stock?

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 an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) pays out 38.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Lakeland Financial pays out 57.1% 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. Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) has increased its dividend for 15 consecutive years and Lakeland Financial has increased its dividend for 14 consecutive years.

Summary

Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) beats Lakeland Financial on 14 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.