SG Americas Securities LLC Grows Position in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN)

SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 382.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,777 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Lakeland Financial were worth $557,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,847,688 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $120,395,000 after buying an additional 42,862 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Lakeland Financial by 1.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 816,549 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $50,232,000 after acquiring an additional 11,118 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 5.8% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 233,836 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,386,000 after acquiring an additional 12,846 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Lakeland Financial by 0.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 684 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 132.5% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 98,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,042,000 after purchasing an additional 55,975 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Lakeland Financial from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock 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 assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Lakeland Financial has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lakeland Financial

In other news, CAO Brok A. Lahrman sold 415 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.91, for a total transaction of $28,597.65. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,739 shares in the company, valued at $119,834.49. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Brok A. Lahrman sold 415 shares of Lakeland Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.91, for a total transaction of $28,597.65. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,739 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $119,834.49. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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 stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $687,499.12. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,635 shares of company stock valued at $914,604 over the last 90 days. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Lakeland Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ:LKFN opened at $64.97 on Wednesday. Lakeland Financial Co. has a one year low of $46.26 and a one year high of $73.22. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $64.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $63.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.95 and a beta of 0.65.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last issued its quarterly 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. Lakeland Financial had a return on equity of 14.72% and a net margin of 23.70%. The business had revenue of $68.74 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.70 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.57 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 25th. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.04%.

Lakeland Financial 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.