Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Reiterates “Market Perform” Rating for Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN)

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFNGet Free Report)‘s stock had its “market perform” rating reaffirmed by stock analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $74.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their prior target price of $73.00. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price target would indicate a potential upside of 6.75% from the stock’s previous close.

Lakeland Financial Price Performance

Shares of Lakeland Financial stock opened at $69.32 on Monday. Lakeland Financial has a one year low of $57.45 and a one year high of $78.61. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $70.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $67.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.01 and a beta of 0.69.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFNGet Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.05. Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 22.85% and a return on equity of 13.64%. Sell-side analysts expect that Lakeland Financial will post 3.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lakeland Financial

In other news, EVP Eric H. Ottinger sold 3,959 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.50, for a total value of $290,986.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 32,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,386,912.50. This represents a 10.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 4,150 shares of company stock valued at $305,327. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lakeland Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 18.7% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 18,461 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,269,000 after purchasing an additional 2,910 shares in the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Lakeland Financial by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 764,186 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $52,545,000 after buying an additional 18,247 shares during the last quarter. Sippican Capital Advisors raised its stake in Lakeland Financial by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Sippican Capital Advisors now owns 19,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,332,000 after buying an additional 445 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Lakeland Financial in the fourth quarter worth $50,000. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 62.3% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,672 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $115,000 after purchasing an additional 642 shares during the last quarter. 81.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Lakeland Financial

(Get Free Report)

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.

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