Inspire Investing LLC Acquires 642 Shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN)

Inspire Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 11.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,321 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 642 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in Lakeland Financial were worth $412,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 58.0% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in Lakeland Financial by 19.9% during the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 6,030 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $393,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 382.0% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 8,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $557,000 after acquiring an additional 6,777 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 12,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $793,000 after acquiring an additional 397 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lakeland Financial during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,352,000. 81.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lakeland Financial Trading Up 2.2 %

NASDAQ:LKFN opened at $68.79 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.00 and a beta of 0.65. Lakeland Financial Co. has a twelve month low of $46.26 and a twelve month high of $73.22. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $64.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $63.09.

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

Lakeland Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 5th. Investors of record on Friday, October 25th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.79%. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.04%.

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 report on Monday, July 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Kyra E. Clark sold 420 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $494,641.68. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, SVP Kyra E. Clark sold 420 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.93, for a total value 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 $494,641.68. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP James Rickard Donovan sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.42, for a total transaction of $52,336.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,568 shares in the company, valued at $625,938.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,635 shares of company stock worth $914,604 in the last ninety days. 3.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.