The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Increases Position in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 3.2% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 12,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 397 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Lakeland Financial were worth $793,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,847,688 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $120,395,000 after acquiring an additional 42,862 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Lakeland Financial by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 816,549 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $50,232,000 after purchasing an additional 11,118 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Lakeland Financial by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 233,836 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,386,000 after purchasing an additional 12,846 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 0.3% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 232,888 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,327,000 after buying an additional 684 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 132.5% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 98,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,042,000 after buying an additional 55,975 shares during the last quarter. 81.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lakeland Financial Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of Lakeland Financial stock opened at $64.37 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $64.56 and a 200 day moving average of $63.04. The company has a market cap of $1.64 billion, a PE ratio of 17.83 and a beta of 0.65. Lakeland Financial Co. has a 52 week low of $46.26 and a 52 week high of $73.22.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.87 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 return on equity of 14.72% and a net margin of 23.70%. The company’s revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.57 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Lakeland Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 25th. Lakeland Financial’s payout ratio is currently 53.04%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped 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. 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, Lakeland Financial presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Kyra E. Clark sold 420 shares of Lakeland Financial stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.93, for a total transaction of $28,950.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $494,641.68. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Kyra E. Clark sold 420 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.93, for a total transaction of $28,950.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $494,641.68. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, President Kristin Pruitt sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $804,720.00. Following the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 13,635 shares of company stock valued at $914,604. Company 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.