Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) Stake Lowered by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company decreased its stake in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,674 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 222 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Lakeland Financial were worth $825,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial in the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in Lakeland Financial by 342.5% in the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 459 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 58.0% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 72.2% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $138,000 after buying an additional 890 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 33,337.5% during the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 2,675 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $174,000 after buying an additional 2,667 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

Lakeland Financial Price Performance

LKFN opened at $73.02 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $69.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $65.85. The stock has a market cap of $1.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.97 and a beta of 0.67. Lakeland Financial Co. has a 12 month low of $57.45 and a 12 month high of $78.61.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $106.94 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.90 million. Lakeland Financial had a return on equity of 13.64% and a net margin of 22.85%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

Lakeland Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 5th. Investors of record on Friday, October 25th were paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 25th. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 49.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Eric H. Ottinger sold 3,959 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.50, for a total value of $290,986.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 32,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,386,912.50. This trade represents a 10.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders sold 4,150 shares of company stock worth $305,327. 3.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.