Bank of New York Mellon Corp Has $14.47 Million Position in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 210,433 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,056 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 0.82% of Lakeland Financial worth $14,469,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $50,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lakeland Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $53,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $74,000. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 62.3% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,672 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $115,000 after buying an additional 642 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE raised its position 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 worth $138,000 after purchasing an additional 890 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

Lakeland Financial Price Performance

Shares of LKFN stock opened at $61.38 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $66.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $67.96. The stock has a market cap of $1.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.91 and a beta of 0.63. Lakeland Financial Co. has a one year low of $57.45 and a one year high of $78.61.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.94 EPS 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, equities research analysts anticipate that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Investors of record on Saturday, January 25th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. This is an increase from Lakeland Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.26%. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.10%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lakeland Financial news, SVP Donald Robinson-Gay sold 550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.25, for a total transaction of $36,437.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,974 shares in the company, valued at approximately $329,527.50. This represents a 9.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director M Scott Welch bought 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $61.40 per share, for a total transaction of $307,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 39,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,394,600. The trade was a 14.71 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Lakeland Financial 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.