Lakeland Financial (LKFN) Stock Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

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. Its loan products include commercial and industrial, commercial real estate and multi-family residential, construction, agri-business and agricultural, consumer 1-4 family mortgage, and other commercial and consumer loans. The company also provides retail and merchant credit card services; corporate treasury management, wealth advisory, and trust services; retail brokerage services, including various financial and investment products, such as annuities and life insurance; and mobile business banking and on-line treasury management services. It serves commercial real estate, manufacturing, agriculture, construction, retail, wholesale, finance and insurance, accommodation and food services, and health care industries. The company was founded in 1872 and is headquartered in Warsaw, Indiana.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $50.74 to $52.49
• 50-Day Range: $51.45 to $69.34
• 52-Week Range: $50.74 to $78.61
• Volume: 205,307 shs
• Average Volume: 124,953 shs
• Market Capitalization: $1.34 billion
• P/E Ratio: 14.17
• Dividend Yield: 3.89%
• Price Target: $70.00
• Consensus Rating: Hold

Lakeland Financial Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

Lakeland Financial scored higher than 78% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 409th out of 951 stocks in the finance sector. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

Analyst's Opinion

• Score: 3.0 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Hold

Consensus Rating

Lakeland Financial has received a consensus rating of Hold. The company's average rating score is 2.00, and is based on no buy ratings, 2 hold ratings, and no sell ratings.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

Lakeland Financial has only been the subject of 2 research reports in the past 90 days.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 1.9 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: 5.41%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for Lakeland Financial are expected to grow by 5.41% in the coming year, from $3.70 to $3.90 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of Lakeland Financial is 14.17, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 21.08.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of Lakeland Financial is 14.17, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the Finance sector average P/E ratio of about 21.51.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

Lakeland Financial has a P/B Ratio of 1.92. P/B Ratios below 3 indicates that a company is reasonably valued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: 1.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Bearish

Percentage of Shares Shorted

8.94% of the float of Lakeland Financial has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

Lakeland Financial has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 13.8, which indicates bearish sentiment.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Lakeland Financial has recently decreased by 0.44%, indicating that investor sentiment is improving.

Dividend

• Score: 5.0 / 5
• Dividend Strength: Strong

Dividend Leadership

Lakeland Financial is a leading dividend payer. It pays a dividend yield of 3.60%, putting its dividend yield in the top 25% of dividend-paying stocks.

Dividend Growth

Lakeland Financial has been increasing its dividend for 13 years.

Dividend Coverage

The dividend payout ratio of Lakeland Financial is 55.10%. This payout ratio is at a healthy, sustainable level, below 75%.

Dividend Sustainability

Based on earnings estimates, Lakeland Financial will have a dividend payout ratio of 51.28% next year. This indicates that Lakeland Financial will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.

Sustainability and ESG

• Score: N/A
• Environmental Score: N/A

Percentage of Shares Shorted

8.94% of the float of Lakeland Financial has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

Lakeland Financial has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 13.8, which indicates bearish sentiment.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Lakeland Financial has recently decreased by 0.44%, indicating that investor sentiment is improving.

News and Social Media

• Score: 2.9 / 5
• News Sentiment: 1.29

News Sentiment

Lakeland Financial has a news sentiment score of 1.29. This score is calculated as an average of sentiment of articles about the company over the last seven days and ranges from 2 (good news) to -2 (bad news). This is a higher news sentiment than the 0.90 average news sentiment score of Finance companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 5 news articles for Lakeland Financial this week, compared to 2 articles on an average week.

MarketBeat Follows

Only 1 people have added Lakeland Financial to their MarketBeat watchlist in the last 30 days. This is a decrease of -50% compared to the previous 30 days.

Company Ownership

• Score: 3.3 / 5
• Insider Trading: Acquiring Shares

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

In the past three months, Lakeland Financial insiders have bought 137.34% more of their company's stock than they have sold. Specifically, they have bought $307,000.00 in company stock and sold $129,348.00 in company stock.

Percentage Held by Insiders

Only 3.00% of the stock of Lakeland Financial is held by insiders.

Percentage Held by Institutions

81.15% of the stock of Lakeland Financial is held by institutions. High institutional ownership can be a signal of strong market trust in this company.

LKFN Stock Analysis - Frequently Asked Questions

How have LKFN shares performed this year?

Lakeland Financial's stock was trading at $68.76 at the beginning of 2025. Since then, LKFN stock has decreased by 25.2% and is now trading at $51.45.
View the best growth stocks for 2025 here.

How were Lakeland Financial's earnings last quarter?

Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) announced its earnings results on Friday, January, 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.05. Lakeland Financial had a trailing twelve-month return on equity of 13.31% and a net margin of 21.74%.

Who are Lakeland Financial's major shareholders?

Top institutional shareholders of Lakeland Financial include Rhumbline Advisers (0.31%), GAMMA Investing LLC (0.25%) and Bridge City Capital LLC (0.14%). Insiders that own company stock include Michael L Kubacki, M Scott Welch, Brian J Smith, Lisa M O'neill, Eric H Ottinger, Robert E Bartels Jr, Steven D Ross, Emily E Pichon, Blake Augsburger, David M Findlay, Kristin Pruitt, James Rickard Donovan, Kyra E Clark, Stephanie R Leniski, Donald Robinson-Gay, Jonathan P Steiner and Brok A Lahrman.
View institutional ownership trends.

How do I buy shares of Lakeland Financial?

Shares of LKFN stock can be purchased through any online brokerage account. Popular online brokerages with access to the U.S. stock market include Charles Schwab, E*TRADE, Fidelity, and Vanguard Brokerage Services.

What other stocks do shareholders of Lakeland Financial own?

Based on aggregate information from My MarketBeat watchlists, some other companies that Lakeland Financial investors own include Humana (HUM), American Water Works (AWK), Waste Connections (WCN), Voyager Therapeutics (VYGR), The RMR Group (RMR), DiamondRock Hospitality (DRH) and iShares Micro-Cap ETF (IWC).

Company Calendar

• Last Earnings: 1/24/2025
• Ex-Dividend for 2/5 Dividend: 1/24/2025
• Record date for 2/5 Dividend: 1/25/2025
• Dividend Payable: 2/05/2025
• Today: 4/14/2025
• Record date for 5/5 Dividend: 4/25/2025
• Ex-Dividend for 5/5 Dividend: 4/25/2025
• Next Earnings (Estimated): 4/25/2025
• Dividend Payable: 5/05/2025
• Fiscal Year End: 12/31/2025

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: NASDAQ
• Sector: Finance
• Industry: State commercial banks
• Sub-Industry: Regional Banks
• Current Symbol: NASDAQ:LKFN
• CIK: 721994
• Web: www.lakecitybank.com
• Phone: (574) 267-6144
• Fax: 574-267-6063
• Employees: 650
• Year Founded: 1872

Price Target and Rating

• Average Stock Price Target: $70.00
• High Stock Price Target: $74.00
• Low Stock Price Target: $66.00
• Potential Upside/Downside: +35.2%
• Consensus Rating: Hold
• Rating Score (0-4): 2.00
• Research Coverage: 2 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Most Recent Fiscal Year): $3.63
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 14.26
• Forward P/E Ratio: 13.99
• P/E Growth: N/A
• Net Income: $93.48 million
• Net Margins: 21.74%
• Pretax Margin: 25.97%
• Return on Equity: 13.31%
• Return on Assets: 1.35%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: N/A
• Current Ratio: 0.88
• Quick Ratio: 0.88

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $253.52 million
• Price / Sales: 5.31
• Cash Flow: $3.05 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 16.95
• Book Value: $26.76 per share
• Price / Book: 1.93

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 26,016,000
• Free Float: 24,664,000
• Market Cap: $1.35 billion
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 0.64