Insider Buying: Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) Director Buys 5,000 Shares of Stock

Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) Director M Scott Welch purchased 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $61.40 per share, for a total transaction of $307,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 39,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,394,600. This trade represents a 14.71 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Lakeland Financial Stock Down 0.3 %

Lakeland Financial stock opened at $61.22 on Friday. Lakeland Financial Co. has a 52 week low of $57.45 and a 52 week high of $78.61. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $66.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.59 billion, a PE ratio of 16.87 and a beta of 0.63.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.05. Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 21.74% and a return on equity of 13.31%. On average, research analysts expect that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Investors of record on Saturday, January 25th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. This is a positive change from Lakeland Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.27%. Lakeland Financial’s payout ratio is currently 55.10%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $74.00 price target (up from $73.00) on shares of Lakeland Financial in a research note on Monday, January 27th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lakeland Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LKFN. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,610 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $592,000 after purchasing an additional 796 shares in the last quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 956,565 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $65,773,000 after purchasing an additional 51,624 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in Lakeland Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 53.5% in the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 4,689 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $322,000 after purchasing an additional 1,635 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 44.3% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 7,509 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $516,000 after purchasing an additional 2,305 shares in the last quarter. 81.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lakeland Financial Company Profile

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.