Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) Director Bradley Toothaker Sells 5,900 Shares

Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN) Director Bradley Toothaker sold 5,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.62, for a total value of $357,658.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 14,278 shares in the company, valued at approximately $865,532.36. The trade was a 29.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Lakeland Financial Stock Down 2.3%

Shares of LKFN stock opened at $59.22 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.87 and a beta of 0.73. The business’s fifty day moving average is $59.46 and its 200 day moving average is $59.06. Lakeland Financial Corporation has a twelve month low of $54.36 and a twelve month high of $69.40.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.03. Lakeland Financial had a return on equity of 14.79% and a net margin of 25.81%.The company had revenue of $69.71 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $70.42 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.78 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Lakeland Financial Corporation will post 4.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, April 25th were paid a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 24th. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.71%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,887,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $107,719,000 after acquiring an additional 19,967 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 4.4% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,354,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $83,237,000 after acquiring an additional 57,252 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,049,197 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $59,867,000 after acquiring an additional 15,610 shares during the period. Neumeier Poma Investment Counsel LLC lifted its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 6.3% in the third quarter. Neumeier Poma Investment Counsel LLC now owns 493,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,681,000 after acquiring an additional 29,044 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 403.6% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 383,525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $23,568,000 after acquiring an additional 307,371 shares during the period. 81.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on LKFN. Wall Street Zen raised Lakeland Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 19th. Weiss Ratings raised Lakeland Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Hovde Group increased their target price on Lakeland Financial from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $66.50.

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.