Heartland Advisors Inc. Makes New $1.44 Million Investment in Lakeland Financial Corporation $LKFN

Heartland Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 23,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,435,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in Lakeland Financial by 186.0% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Lakeland Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Lakeland Financial by 1,212.5% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 582 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new stake in Lakeland Financial during the 2nd quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its position in Lakeland Financial by 40.5% during the 4th 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.

Insider Transactions at Lakeland Financial

In other Lakeland Financial news, Director Bradley J. Toothaker sold 5,900 shares of the business’s 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 in the company, valued at approximately $865,532.36. The trade was a 29.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on LKFN. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Lakeland Financial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Wall Street Zen cut Lakeland Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 9th. Finally, Hovde Group upped 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $66.50.

Lakeland Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Lakeland Financial stock opened at $60.26 on Friday. Lakeland Financial Corporation has a one year low of $54.36 and a one year high of $69.40. The company has a market cap of $1.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.82 and a beta of 0.72. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $61.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $60.22.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $70.87 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.11 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.04 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Lakeland Financial Corporation will post 4.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Lakeland Financial Announces Dividend

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

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.