Squarepoint Ops LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Lakeland Financial Corporation $LKFN

Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 76.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 64,317 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 27,862 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC’s holdings in Lakeland Financial were worth $3,970,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 186.0% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 305 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new position in Lakeland Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Lakeland Financial by 1,212.5% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 582 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP purchased a new stake in Lakeland Financial in the second quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 40.5% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Lakeland Financial Stock Up 0.1%

LKFN stock opened at $60.58 on Friday. Lakeland Financial Corporation has a twelve month low of $54.36 and a twelve month high of $66.82. The stock has a market cap of $1.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.89 and a beta of 0.71. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $61.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.05.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (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 prior year, the firm posted $1.04 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Lakeland Financial Corporation will post 4.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, July 25th were given a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 24th. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.71%.

Lakeland Financial Profile

Lakeland Financial Corporation is a bank holding company headquartered in Warsaw, Indiana. Its principal subsidiary, Lake City Bank, provides banking and financial services to individuals, businesses, agricultural customers and governmental entities.

Lake City Bank’s offerings include commercial and consumer loans, residential mortgages, deposit accounts, treasury and cash-management services, online and mobile banking, wealth management, and trust services. The bank serves communities primarily across northern Indiana through a network of banking offices and also provides services to customers in surrounding markets.

Lake City Bank traces its history to 1872 and has grown into one of Indiana’s longstanding community banking institutions.