American Century Companies Inc. Acquires 586 Shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN)

American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 126,892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 586 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 0.50% of Lakeland Financial worth $8,725,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Albert D Mason Inc. raised its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. now owns 22,638 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,557,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Lakeland Financial by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 68,875 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,736,000 after buying an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 50,150 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,448,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 18.8% during 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 during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE increased its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,480 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $171,000 after buying an additional 357 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

Lakeland Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LKFN opened at $59.53 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.55 billion, a PE ratio of 16.40 and a beta of 0.63. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $64.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $67.39. Lakeland Financial Co. has a one year low of $57.45 and a one year high of $78.61.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts expect that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Increases Dividend

The firm 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 a boost from Lakeland Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.10%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $74.00 target price (up from $73.00) on shares of Lakeland Financial in a report on Monday, January 27th. Hovde Group assumed coverage on shares of Lakeland Financial in a research report on Friday, March 21st. They set a “market perform” rating and a $66.00 target price on the stock.

Insider Activity at Lakeland Financial

In other Lakeland Financial news, SVP Donald Robinson-Gay sold 550 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.25, for a total value of $36,437.50. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,974 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $329,527.50. The trade was a 9.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director M Scott Welch acquired 5,000 shares of Lakeland Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $61.40 per share, with a total value of $307,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now 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. 3.00% of the stock is currently 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.