Renaissance Technologies LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN)

Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 686.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 57,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 49,800 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in Lakeland Financial were worth $3,510,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial during the second quarter valued at $31,000. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in Lakeland Financial by 342.5% during the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 459 shares in the last quarter. First Merchants Corp bought a new position in Lakeland Financial in the second quarter worth $215,000. Sippican Capital Advisors bought a new stake in Lakeland Financial in the first quarter valued at about $223,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 5,020 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $333,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Lakeland Financial from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.00.

Lakeland Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LKFN opened at $64.17 on Monday. Lakeland Financial Co. has a one year low of $45.59 and a one year high of $73.22. The company has a market cap of $1.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.73 and a beta of 0.66. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $65.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $63.07.

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

Lakeland Financial Dividend Announcement

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 $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 25th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.99%. Lakeland Financial’s payout ratio is 53.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lakeland Financial

In other Lakeland Financial news, SVP James Rickard Donovan sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $625,938.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, President Kristin Pruitt sold 12,000 shares of the business’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 transaction of $804,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 10,252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $687,499.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP James Rickard Donovan sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,568 shares in the company, valued at approximately $625,938.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 13,635 shares of company stock worth $914,604. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

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.