Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Lowers Holdings in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. reduced its position in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 20.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,524 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,934 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Lakeland Financial were worth $517,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AlphaQuest LLC increased its stake in Lakeland Financial by 187.6% during the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 7,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $529,000 after acquiring an additional 5,017 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its stake in Lakeland Financial by 197.0% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 12,932 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $880,000 after purchasing an additional 8,578 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Lakeland Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $23,111,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Lakeland Financial by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 946,280 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $65,066,000 after purchasing an additional 43,312 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in Lakeland Financial by 18.8% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $142,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares in the last quarter. 81.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lakeland Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ LKFN opened at $60.19 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $65.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $67.66. Lakeland Financial Co. has a 1 year low of $57.45 and a 1 year high of $78.61. The company has a market cap of $1.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.58 and a beta of 0.63.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.05. Lakeland Financial had a return on equity of 13.31% and a net margin of 21.74%. Research analysts expect that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Lakeland Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, January 25th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. 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 3.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.10%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Stephanie R. Leniski sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.94, for a total value of $92,910.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $384,709.34. This trade represents a 19.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director M Scott Welch purchased 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $61.40 per share, for a total transaction of $307,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 39,000 shares in the company, valued at $2,394,600. This represents a 14.71 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and set a $74.00 target price (up previously from $73.00) on shares of Lakeland Financial in a report on Monday, January 27th. Hovde Group started coverage on Lakeland Financial in a report on Friday. They set a “market perform” rating and a $66.00 price objective for the company.

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.