Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Has $4.91 Million Stake in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 15.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 75,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,194 shares during the quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.30% of Lakeland Financial worth $4,911,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in Lakeland Financial during the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 342.5% during the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 459 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 58.0% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 235 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 72.2% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $138,000 after buying an additional 890 shares during the period. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Lakeland Financial during the 3rd quarter worth about $201,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Lakeland Financial

In other news, SVP James Rickard Donovan sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.42, for a total value of $52,336.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,568 shares in the company, valued at $625,938.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, SVP James Rickard Donovan sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.42, for a total value of $52,336.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,568 shares in the company, valued at approximately $625,938.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, President Kristin Pruitt sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $804,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 10,252 shares in the company, valued at approximately $687,499.12. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,950 shares of company stock worth $868,383 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Lakeland Financial Stock Performance

Shares of LKFN opened at $75.64 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $65.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $63.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.65 and a beta of 0.65. Lakeland Financial Co. has a 52 week low of $50.36 and a 52 week high of $78.31.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.03. Lakeland Financial had a return on equity of 13.64% and a net margin of 22.85%. The firm had revenue of $106.94 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.90 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Lakeland Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 25th were paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.54%. Lakeland Financial’s payout ratio is presently 49.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Lakeland Financial from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th.

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.