Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) Shares Acquired by Jones Financial Companies Lllp

Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 18.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 326 shares during the quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp’s holdings in Lakeland Financial were worth $142,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Lakeland Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $50,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in Lakeland Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $53,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in Lakeland Financial in the third quarter worth about $74,000. KBC Group NV raised its position in Lakeland Financial by 62.3% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,672 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $115,000 after acquiring an additional 642 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE raised its position in Lakeland Financial by 72.2% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $138,000 after acquiring an additional 890 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director M Scott Welch acquired 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $61.40 per share, for a total transaction of $307,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 39,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,394,600. This represents a 14.71 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Donald Robinson-Gay sold 550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.25, for a total value of $36,437.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,974 shares in the company, valued at $329,527.50. This represents a 9.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Lakeland Financial Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of Lakeland Financial stock opened at $62.33 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $66.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $67.88. Lakeland Financial Co. has a 52 week low of $57.45 and a 52 week high of $78.61. The stock has a market cap of $1.62 billion, a PE ratio of 17.17 and a beta of 0.63.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 13.31% and a net margin of 21.74%. On average, equities analysts predict that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, January 25th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. This is an increase from Lakeland Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Lakeland Financial’s payout ratio is presently 55.10%.

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.