James Rickard Donovan Sells 800 Shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) Stock

Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) SVP James Rickard Donovan sold 800 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $52,336.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,568 shares in the company, valued at $625,938.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Lakeland Financial Price Performance

Lakeland Financial stock opened at $67.47 on Wednesday. Lakeland Financial Co. has a 12 month low of $44.47 and a 12 month high of $73.22. The company has a market cap of $1.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.64 and a beta of 0.66. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $65.62 and its 200-day moving average is $63.04.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.02. Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 23.70% and a return on equity of 14.72%. The firm had revenue of $68.74 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.70 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.57 earnings per share. Lakeland Financial’s revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.37 EPS for the current year.

Lakeland Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 25th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 25th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.85%. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Lakeland Financial from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.00.

Institutional Trading of Lakeland Financial

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 1.6% in the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 12,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $787,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Bridge City Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Bridge City Capital LLC now owns 31,402 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,083,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares during the period. Comerica Bank grew its position in Lakeland Financial by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 16,877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,100,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC grew its position in Lakeland Financial by 5.1% in the second quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 5,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $349,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 4.0% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 7,269 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $447,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. 81.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.