Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) to Issue $0.48 Quarterly Dividend

Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, October 8th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 25th will be paid a dividend of 0.48 per share by the financial services provider on Tuesday, November 5th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 25th.

Lakeland Financial has raised its dividend by an average of 15.3% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 13 years. Lakeland Financial has a dividend payout ratio of 54.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Lakeland Financial to earn $3.46 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.92 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 55.5%.

Lakeland Financial Price Performance

Shares of LKFN opened at $65.40 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $65.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $63.18. Lakeland Financial has a one year low of $46.26 and a one year high of $73.22. The company has a market capitalization of $1.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.07 and a beta of 0.65.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.02. Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 23.70% and a return on equity of 14.72%. The firm had revenue of $68.74 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.70 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.57 EPS. Lakeland Financial’s revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lakeland Financial will post 3.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Lakeland Financial from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lakeland Financial

In other news, CAO Brok A. Lahrman sold 415 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.91, for a total value of $28,597.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,739 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $119,834.49. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Kyra E. Clark sold 420 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.93, for a total value of $28,950.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $494,641.68. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Brok A. Lahrman sold 415 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.91, for a total transaction of $28,597.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,739 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $119,834.49. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 13,635 shares of company stock worth $914,604. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Lakeland Financial Company Profile

Lakeland Financial Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Lake City Bank that provides various banking products and services in the United States. The company accepts various deposit products, such as noninterest bearing, interest-bearing checking, savings, money market, NOW, and demand deposits.