23,875 Shares in Lakeland Financial Corporation $LKFN Acquired by Ieq Capital LLC

Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 23,875 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,474,000. Ieq Capital LLC owned approximately 0.10% of Lakeland Financial at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $3,614,000 after purchasing an additional 6,987 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position 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 valued at $1,927,000 after buying an additional 15,404 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 14,868 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $884,000 after acquiring an additional 716 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew 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 valued at $11,848,000 after purchasing an additional 152,738 shares during the period. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in shares of Lakeland Financial during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $215,000. 81.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Bradley J. Toothaker sold 5,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.62, for a total transaction of $357,658.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 14,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $865,532.36. The trade was a 29.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Lakeland Financial Price Performance

Shares of LKFN stock opened at $59.47 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $1.48 billion, a PE ratio of 13.64 and a beta of 0.72. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $61.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $60.16. Lakeland Financial Corporation has a 1 year low of $54.36 and a 1 year high of $69.40.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.05. Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 26.04% and a return on equity of 14.67%. The company had revenue of $70.87 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.11 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.04 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Lakeland Financial Corporation will post 4.38 EPS for the current year.

Lakeland Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 5th. Investors of record on Saturday, July 25th were issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 24th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. Lakeland Financial’s payout ratio is presently 47.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LKFN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Lakeland Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 9th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Lakeland Financial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $66.50.

About Lakeland Financial

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.