GAMMA Investing LLC Boosts Position in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN)

GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 58.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 235 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Lakeland Financial were worth $42,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in Lakeland Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 342.5% in the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 459 shares during the last quarter. First Merchants Corp purchased a new position in shares of Lakeland Financial during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $215,000. Sippican Capital Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Lakeland Financial during the 1st quarter worth approximately $223,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Lakeland Financial by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 5,020 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $333,000 after buying an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Lakeland Financial from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.00.

Lakeland Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ:LKFN opened at $68.79 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.75 billion, a PE ratio of 19.00 and a beta of 0.65. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $63.09. Lakeland Financial Co. has a 1-year low of $46.26 and a 1-year high of $73.22.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.02. Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 23.70% and a return on equity of 14.72%. The business had revenue of $68.74 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.70 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.57 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.79%. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.04%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Brok A. Lahrman sold 415 shares of Lakeland Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.91, for a total value of $28,597.65. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,739 shares in the company, valued at approximately $119,834.49. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Brok A. Lahrman sold 415 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.91, for a total value of $28,597.65. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,739 shares in the company, valued at approximately $119,834.49. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP James Rickard Donovan sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.42, for a total transaction of $52,336.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,568 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $625,938.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 13,635 shares of company stock valued at $914,604 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

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.