Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) Receives “Market Perform” Rating from Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued their market perform rating on shares of Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $74.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $73.00.

Lakeland Financial Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of LKFN stock opened at $69.54 on Monday. Lakeland Financial has a 12 month low of $57.45 and a 12 month high of $78.61. The stock has a market cap of $1.77 billion, a PE ratio of 18.06 and a beta of 0.69. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $70.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $67.77.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last announced its 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 22.85% and a return on equity of 13.64%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Lakeland Financial will post 3.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, January 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This is a boost from Lakeland Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Lakeland Financial’s payout ratio is 55.10%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Eric H. Ottinger sold 3,959 shares of Lakeland Financial stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.50, for a total value of $290,986.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 32,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,386,912.50. The trade was a 10.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,150 shares of company stock worth $305,327. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lakeland Financial

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 18.7% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 18,461 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,269,000 after purchasing an additional 2,910 shares during the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 2.4% in the 4th 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 raised its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Sippican Capital Advisors now owns 19,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,332,000 after purchasing an additional 445 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Lakeland Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $50,000. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its position 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 worth $115,000 after purchasing an additional 642 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

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.