Rhumbline Advisers Cuts Holdings in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN)

Rhumbline Advisers lessened its position in shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 1.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 85,828 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,658 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers owned approximately 0.34% of Lakeland Financial worth $5,280,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LKFN. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 342.5% during the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 459 shares in the last quarter. Sippican Capital Advisors acquired a new stake in Lakeland Financial during the 1st quarter valued at $223,000. First Merchants Corp purchased a new stake in Lakeland Financial during the 2nd quarter worth $215,000. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new position in Lakeland Financial in the 4th quarter worth $282,000. 81.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Lakeland Financial from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.00.

Insider Activity

In other Lakeland Financial news, CAO Brok A. Lahrman sold 415 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.91, for a total value of $28,597.65. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,739 shares in the company, valued at $119,834.49. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Brok A. Lahrman sold 415 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.91, for a total transaction of $28,597.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,739 shares in the company, valued at approximately $119,834.49. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kyra E. Clark sold 420 shares of Lakeland Financial stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.93, for a total value of $28,950.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,176 shares in the company, valued at $494,641.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,835 shares of company stock worth $862,268 over the last 90 days. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Lakeland Financial Stock Performance

Shares of LKFN opened at $65.48 on Monday. Lakeland Financial Co. has a one year low of $44.47 and a one year high of $73.22. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $65.27 and its 200-day moving average is $62.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.09 and a beta of 0.66.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.02. Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 23.70% and a return on equity of 14.72%. The company had revenue of $68.74 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.70 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.57 EPS. Lakeland Financial’s revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 25th were paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 25th. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.04%.

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.