Public Sector Pension Investment Board Increases Stake in Lakeland Financial Corporation $LKFN

Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 14.3% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 99,540 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 12,436 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in Lakeland Financial were worth $6,390,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Boston Trust Walden Corp purchased a new stake in Lakeland Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at $23,968,000. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 403.6% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 383,525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $23,568,000 after purchasing an additional 307,371 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 152,738 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new position in Lakeland Financial during the 1st quarter valued at about $6,500,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in Lakeland Financial by 1,699.4% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 105,663 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,493,000 after purchasing an additional 99,791 shares during the last quarter. 81.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on LKFN shares. Hovde Group lowered Lakeland Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on 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. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Lakeland Financial in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Stephens set a $66.00 price objective on shares of Lakeland Financial in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $68.00 target price (down from $74.00) on shares of Lakeland Financial in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $68.00.

Lakeland Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Lakeland Financial stock opened at $60.85 on Thursday. Lakeland Financial Corporation has a 12 month low of $50.00 and a 12 month high of $69.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.17 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $61.11.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The financial services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.11. Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 24.51% and a return on equity of 14.19%. The company had revenue of $69.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $69.45 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.94 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Lakeland Financial Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 5th. Investors of record on Sunday, January 25th were paid a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 23rd. This is an increase from Lakeland Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.87%.

Lakeland Financial Company Profile

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.