Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Stock Position in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 123,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,416 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.48% of Lakeland Financial worth $8,505,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of LKFN. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 18.7% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 18,461 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,269,000 after acquiring an additional 2,910 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 764,186 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $52,545,000 after purchasing an additional 18,247 shares during the last quarter. Sippican Capital Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Sippican Capital Advisors now owns 19,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,332,000 after purchasing an additional 445 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Lakeland Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $50,000. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 62.3% in the fourth 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 last quarter. 81.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $74.00 price objective (up previously from $73.00) on shares of Lakeland Financial in a research note on Monday, January 27th.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Donald Robinson-Gay sold 550 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.25, for a total value of $36,437.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,974 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $329,527.50. This trade represents a 9.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Lakeland Financial Trading Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ LKFN opened at $66.41 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $67.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $67.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.29 and a beta of 0.68. Lakeland Financial Co. has a 12-month low of $57.45 and a 12-month high of $78.61.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.05. Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 21.74% and a return on equity of 13.31%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, January 25th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.01%. This is a boost from Lakeland Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.10%.

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.