Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) Director M Scott Welch Acquires 10,000 Shares

Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN) Director M Scott Welch bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $56.23 per share, for a total transaction of $562,300.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 212,006 shares in the company, valued at $11,921,097.38. The trade was a 4.95% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

M Scott Welch also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, March 9th, M Scott Welch purchased 5,000 shares of Lakeland Financial stock. The stock was bought at an average cost of $55.45 per share, with a total value of $277,250.00.
• On Friday, February 27th, M Scott Welch acquired 10,000 shares of Lakeland Financial stock. The shares were bought at an average price of $57.95 per share, with a total value of $579,500.00.

Lakeland Financial Stock Performance

LKFN stock traded down $0.05 during trading on Friday, hitting $56.53. The stock had a trading volume of 62,634 shares, compared to its average volume of 173,386. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $59.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $60.63. The stock has a market cap of $1.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.10 and a beta of 0.73. Lakeland Financial Corporation has a 1-year low of $50.00 and a 1-year high of $69.40.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 26th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $69.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $69.45 million. Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 24.51% and a return on equity of 14.19%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.94 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Lakeland Financial Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 5th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, January 25th were paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 23rd. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. This is an increase from Lakeland Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on LKFN. Wall Street Zen upgraded Lakeland Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 8th. Hovde Group downgraded shares of Lakeland Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Stephens set a $66.00 price target on shares of Lakeland Financial in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Lakeland Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lakeland Financial has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $68.00.

Institutional Trading of Lakeland Financial

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LKFN. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,887,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $107,719,000 after purchasing an additional 19,967 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,354,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $83,237,000 after buying an additional 57,252 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,049,197 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $59,867,000 after buying an additional 15,610 shares during the last quarter. Neumeier Poma Investment Counsel LLC lifted its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 6.3% in the third quarter. Neumeier Poma Investment Counsel LLC now owns 493,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,681,000 after acquiring an additional 29,044 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in Lakeland Financial by 403.6% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 383,525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $23,568,000 after acquiring an additional 307,371 shares during the period. 81.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lakeland Financial Company Profile

Lakeland Financial Corporation is a bank holding company based in Warsaw, Indiana, that operates through its principal subsidiary, Lakeland Bank. The company offers a full range of commercial and consumer banking services, including deposit products such as checking accounts, savings accounts and certificates of deposit, as well as a variety of loan offerings spanning commercial real estate, agricultural, mortgage, consumer and small-business lending.

Originally organized in 1893 as Kosciusko County State Bank, the enterprise reorganized as a bank holding company in 1984 to facilitate strategic growth and diversification.