Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) Director M Scott Welch Acquires 5,000 Shares

Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN - Get Free Report) Director M Scott Welch purchased 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $61.40 per share, for a total transaction of $307,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 39,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,394,600. This trade represents a 14.71 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Lakeland Financial Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of Lakeland Financial stock traded up $0.69 during trading on Friday, reaching $61.91. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,456 shares, compared to its average volume of 130,405. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $66.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $67.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.03 and a beta of 0.63. Lakeland Financial Co. has a one year low of $57.45 and a one year high of $78.61.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.05. Lakeland Financial had a return on equity of 13.31% and a net margin of 21.74%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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Lakeland Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Investors of record on Saturday, January 25th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.23%. This is an increase from Lakeland Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. Lakeland Financial's payout ratio is 55.10%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $74.00 price objective (up from $73.00) on shares of Lakeland Financial in a report on Monday, January 27th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lakeland Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,940,356 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $133,419,000 after acquiring an additional 100,001 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Lakeland Financial by 2.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,276,929 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $83,154,000 after buying an additional 27,556 shares during the period. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 956,565 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $65,773,000 after buying an additional 51,624 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Lakeland Financial by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 946,280 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $65,066,000 after acquiring an additional 43,312 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 807,525 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $55,526,000 after buying an additional 6,307 shares during the period. 81.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.