Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) Shares Cross Above 200-Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN)’s share price crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $59.21 and traded as high as $61.93. Lakeland Financial shares last traded at $61.83, with a volume of 108,106 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on LKFN. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Lakeland Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, April 19th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Lakeland Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Hovde Group upped their price objective on Lakeland Financial from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $66.50.

Lakeland Financial Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $1.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.48 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $60.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.21.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $69.71 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.42 million. Lakeland Financial had a return on equity of 14.79% and a net margin of 25.81%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.78 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Lakeland Financial Corporation will post 4.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, April 25th were given a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 24th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Lakeland Financial’s payout ratio is presently 48.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Bradley J. Toothaker sold 5,900 shares of Lakeland Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.62, for a total transaction of $357,658.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 14,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $865,532.36. The trade was a 29.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Steven D. Ross sold 1,281 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.50, for a total value of $80,062.50. Following the sale, the director owned 27,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,687,562.50. This trade represents a 4.53% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 9,336 shares of company stock worth $570,251 in the last quarter. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lakeland Financial

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 13.0% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 60,794 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,614,000 after purchasing an additional 6,987 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 90.5% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 32,427 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,927,000 after purchasing an additional 15,404 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 5.1% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 14,868 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $884,000 after purchasing an additional 716 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 327.9% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 199,323 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,848,000 after purchasing an additional 152,738 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in Lakeland Financial during the first quarter worth about $215,000. Institutional investors own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

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.