Copeland Capital Management LLC Sells 9,316 Shares of Lakeland Financial Corporation $LKFN

Copeland Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 1.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 606,364 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,316 shares during the quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC owned approximately 2.43% of Lakeland Financial worth $34,793,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of LKFN. 1ST Source Bank increased its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 19.9% in the 1st quarter. 1ST Source Bank now owns 58,434 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,353,000 after purchasing an additional 9,690 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Lakeland Financial by 0.9% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 122,986 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,057,000 after purchasing an additional 1,102 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in Lakeland Financial by 7,035.7% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 10,204 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $585,000 after purchasing an additional 10,061 shares in the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in Lakeland Financial during the first quarter valued at about $86,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC grew its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 9.0% during the first quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 8,955 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $514,000 after purchasing an additional 743 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

Lakeland Financial Trading Down 1.5%

NASDAQ LKFN opened at $62.68 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $60.47 and its 200 day moving average is $59.59. Lakeland Financial Corporation has a 12 month low of $54.36 and a 12 month high of $69.40. The stock has a market cap of $1.56 billion, a PE ratio of 14.68 and a beta of 0.73.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.03. Lakeland Financial had a return on equity of 14.79% and a net margin of 25.81%.The business had revenue of $69.71 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.42 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.78 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Lakeland Financial Corporation will post 4.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 5th. Investors of record on Saturday, July 25th will be given a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 24th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on LKFN. Wall Street Zen downgraded Lakeland Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Lakeland Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Hovde Group boosted their price objective on Lakeland Financial from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Eric H. Ottinger sold 2,136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.49, for a total transaction of $131,342.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 33,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,044,972.93. This trade represents a 6.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Steven D. Ross sold 1,281 shares of Lakeland Financial stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.50, for a total transaction of $80,062.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 27,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,687,562.50. This represents a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 9,336 shares of company stock worth $570,251. 3.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Lakeland Financial 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.