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

Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN) Director M Scott Welch acquired 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $56.23 per share, with a total value of $562,300.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 212,006 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,921,097.38. This represents a 4.95% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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 bought 5,000 shares of Lakeland Financial stock. The stock was acquired at an average price of $55.45 per share, for a total transaction of $277,250.00.
• On Friday, February 27th, M Scott Welch purchased 10,000 shares of Lakeland Financial stock. The shares were acquired at an average price of $57.95 per share, with a total value of $579,500.00.

Lakeland Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LKFN traded down $0.22 on Thursday, hitting $56.53. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 205,332 shares, compared to its average volume of 173,576. The company has a market capitalization of $1.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.10 and a beta of 0.73. Lakeland Financial Corporation has a 12 month low of $50.00 and a 12 month high of $69.40. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $59.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $60.66.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 26th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $69.80 million during 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 company posted $0.94 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Lakeland Financial Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Increases Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lakeland Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LKFN. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 1.9% in the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 10,154 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $660,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd lifted its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 20,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,184,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank lifted its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 7,523 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $483,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC boosted its stake in Lakeland Financial by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 4,201 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $270,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares during the period. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH grew its position in Lakeland Financial by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 4,973 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $319,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LKFN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Lakeland Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday. Stephens set a $66.00 price target on shares of Lakeland Financial in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Hovde Group downgraded shares of Lakeland Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Lakeland Financial in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $68.00.

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.