Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) Sets New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $75.50 and last traded at $74.95, with a volume of 22847 shares. The stock had previously closed at $66.53.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Lakeland Financial Stock Up 11.1 %

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $63.57. The firm has a market cap of $1.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.21 and a beta of 0.65.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.03. Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 22.85% and a return on equity of 13.64%. The company had revenue of $106.94 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.90 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

Lakeland Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 5th. Investors of record on Friday, October 25th were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 25th. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP James Rickard Donovan sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 9,568 shares in the company, valued at $625,938.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Lakeland Financial news, President Kristin Pruitt sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the president now owns 10,252 shares in the company, valued at $687,499.12. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP James Rickard Donovan sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $625,938.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 12,950 shares of company stock valued at $868,383. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lakeland Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in Lakeland Financial in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 342.5% in the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 459 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Lakeland Financial by 58.0% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in Lakeland Financial by 72.2% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $138,000 after purchasing an additional 890 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Lakeland Financial during the third quarter valued at $201,000. 81.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.