Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Purchases New Stake in Lakeland Financial Corporation $LKFN

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 23,726 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,523,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 13.0% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 60,794 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,614,000 after acquiring an additional 6,987 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Lakeland Financial by 90.5% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 32,427 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,927,000 after buying an additional 15,404 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 5.1% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 14,868 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $884,000 after acquiring an additional 716 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 327.9% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 199,323 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,848,000 after buying an additional 152,738 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in shares of Lakeland Financial during the 1st quarter valued at $215,000. 81.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lakeland Financial Stock Up 3.0%

NASDAQ:LKFN opened at $57.57 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.47 billion, a PE ratio of 15.19 and a beta of 0.73. Lakeland Financial Corporation has a 12-month low of $50.00 and a 12-month high of $71.76. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $58.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.92.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $69.03 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $69.15 million. Lakeland Financial had a return on equity of 13.77% and a net margin of 23.23%.The company’s revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.91 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Lakeland Financial Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Lakeland Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 5th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, October 25th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 24th. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on LKFN shares. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $68.00 target price (down previously from $74.00) on shares of Lakeland Financial in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Lakeland Financial from $68.00 to $66.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Hovde Group downgraded Lakeland Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Lakeland Financial in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $68.67.

About Lakeland Financial

Lakeland Financial Corporation is a bank holding company based in Warsaw, Indiana, that operates through its principal subsidiary, Lakeland Bank. The company offers a full range of commercial and consumer banking services, including deposit products such as checking accounts, savings accounts and certificates of deposit, as well as a variety of loan offerings spanning commercial real estate, agricultural, mortgage, consumer and small-business lending.

Originally organized in 1893 as Kosciusko County State Bank, the enterprise reorganized as a bank holding company in 1984 to facilitate strategic growth and diversification.