Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) EVP Sells $92,910.00 in Stock

Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN - Get Free Report) EVP Stephanie R. Leniski sold 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.94, for a total transaction of $92,910.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $384,709.34. The trade was a 19.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Lakeland Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LKFN traded down $0.61 during trading on Friday, hitting $60.19. 554,603 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 111,622. The company has a market cap of $1.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.58 and a beta of 0.63. Lakeland Financial Co. has a 1 year low of $57.45 and a 1 year high of $78.61. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $65.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $67.66.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.94 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%. On average, research analysts forecast that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

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Lakeland Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Investors of record on Saturday, January 25th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. This is a positive change from Lakeland Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.32%. Lakeland Financial's payout ratio is currently 55.10%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lakeland Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LKFN. Quest Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 33,337.5% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 2,675 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $174,000 after buying an additional 2,667 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Lakeland Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $352,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Lakeland Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $616,000. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Lakeland Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $320,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 902,968 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $58,801,000 after purchasing an additional 27,214 shares in the last quarter. 81.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.