Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) Now Covered by Hovde Group

Hovde Group assumed coverage on shares of Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) in a research note released on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a market perform rating and a $66.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock.

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

Lakeland Financial Stock Down 1.0 %

LKFN opened at $60.19 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $65.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.66. Lakeland Financial has a 52 week low of $57.45 and a 52 week high of $78.61. The firm has a market cap of $1.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.58 and a beta of 0.63.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.05. Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 21.74% and a return on equity of 13.31%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Lakeland Financial will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 boost from Lakeland Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.32%. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.10%.

Insider Activity at Lakeland Financial

In other Lakeland Financial news, EVP Stephanie R. Leniski sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.94, for a total transaction of $92,910.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,211 shares in the company, valued at $384,709.34. This represents a 19.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director M Scott Welch acquired 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $61.40 per share, for a total transaction of $307,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 3.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lakeland Financial

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Lakeland Financial during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $50,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 809.9% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 737 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 656 shares in the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $53,000. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in Lakeland Financial during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $74,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

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.