Lakeland Financial Co. Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.48 (NASDAQ:LKFN)

Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 9th, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Thursday, April 25th will be given a dividend of 0.48 per share by the financial services provider on Monday, May 6th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 24th.

Lakeland Financial has increased its dividend by an average of 15.3% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 13 consecutive years. Lakeland Financial has a payout ratio of 54.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Lakeland Financial to earn $3.50 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.92 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 54.9%.

Lakeland Financial Stock Up 4.3 %

LKFN stock opened at $61.65 on Monday. Lakeland Financial has a 12 month low of $43.05 and a 12 month high of $73.22. The firm has a market cap of $1.60 billion, a PE ratio of 16.89 and a beta of 0.67. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $60.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.10. Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 23.85% and a return on equity of 14.89%. The business had revenue of $65.81 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.81 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.01 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Lakeland Financial will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lakeland Financial

In other Lakeland Financial news, SVP Stephanie R. Leniski sold 2,560 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.17, for a total value of $161,715.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,270 shares in the company, valued at approximately $269,735.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Lakeland Financial news, CEO David M. Findlay sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.26, for a total value of $783,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 14,175 shares in the company, valued at approximately $925,060.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Stephanie R. Leniski sold 2,560 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.17, for a total transaction of $161,715.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,270 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $269,735.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 53,728 shares of company stock worth $3,670,449. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lakeland Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 13.6% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 26,618 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,942,000 after purchasing an additional 3,183 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 3,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $224,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 22.1% during the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 24,033 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,755,000 after purchasing an additional 4,357 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 56.0% during the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 13,025 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $951,000 after purchasing an additional 4,675 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 14.1% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 21,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,592,000 after purchasing an additional 2,691 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on LKFN. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Lakeland Financial from $60.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Stephens boosted their price target on shares of Lakeland Financial from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th.

About Lakeland Financial

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.