Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) Shares Cross Above 200-Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN) shares crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $59.21 and traded as high as $61.93. Lakeland Financial shares last traded at $61.83, with a volume of 108,106 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on LKFN. Weiss Ratings upgraded Lakeland Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Hovde Group boosted their target price on Lakeland Financial from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Lakeland Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $66.50.

Lakeland Financial Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.21. The stock has a market cap of $1.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.48 and a beta of 0.73.

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

Lakeland Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 5th. Investors of record on Saturday, April 25th were paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 24th. Lakeland Financial’s payout ratio is 48.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Steven D. Ross sold 1,281 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.50, for a total transaction of $80,062.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 27,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,687,562.50. The trade was a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Eric H. Ottinger sold 2,136 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.49, for a total transaction of $131,342.64. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 33,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,044,972.93. The trade was a 6.04% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 9,336 shares of company stock valued at $570,251 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lakeland Financial

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 403.6% during the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 327.9% during 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 period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 68.8% during the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 321,031 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,610,000 after purchasing an additional 130,897 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Lakeland Financial during the first quarter worth approximately $6,500,000. Finally, Tudor Investment Corp ET AL bought a new position in shares of Lakeland Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,416,000. Institutional investors own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

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.