Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) Earns Market Perform Rating from Analysts at Hovde Group

Hovde Group initiated coverage on shares of Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) in a research note published on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a market perform rating and a $66.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock.

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $74.00 price target (up previously from $73.00) on shares of Lakeland Financial in a report on Monday, January 27th.

Lakeland Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LKFN opened at $60.19 on Friday. Lakeland Financial has a one year low of $57.45 and a one year high of $78.61. The firm has a market cap of $1.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.58 and a beta of 0.63. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $65.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $67.65.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.05. Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 21.74% and a return on equity of 13.31%. On average, research analysts predict that Lakeland Financial will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Investors of record on Saturday, January 25th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. This is a positive change from Lakeland Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Lakeland Financial’s payout ratio is 55.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director M Scott Welch purchased 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $61.40 per share, for a total transaction of $307,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 39,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,394,600. This trade represents a 14.71 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Donald Robinson-Gay sold 550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.25, for a total transaction of $36,437.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,974 shares in the company, valued at $329,527.50. The trade was a 9.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at $199,000. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 41.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 82,428 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,368,000 after acquiring an additional 24,030 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 130.5% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 50,960 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,320,000 after buying an additional 28,851 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 1.9% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 57,933 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,773,000 after buying an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Lakeland Financial during the third quarter worth $616,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.15% 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.