Insider Buying: Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) Director Buys 5,000 Shares of Stock

Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) Director M Scott Welch acquired 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $61.40 per share, with a total value of $307,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 39,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,394,600. The trade was a 14.71 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Lakeland Financial Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ LKFN traded up $1.02 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $62.13. 57,378 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 130,638. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $67.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $68.01. The company has a market capitalization of $1.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.07 and a beta of 0.63. Lakeland Financial Co. has a 52-week low of $57.45 and a 52-week high of $78.61.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.05. Lakeland Financial had a return on equity of 13.31% and a net margin of 21.74%. On average, analysts forecast that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Lakeland Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, January 25th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from Lakeland Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.10%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $74.00 price target (up from $73.00) on shares of Lakeland Financial in a report on Monday, January 27th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lakeland Financial

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in Lakeland Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Lakeland Financial in the 4th quarter worth $50,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 809.9% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 737 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares during the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in Lakeland Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $53,000. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in Lakeland Financial during the third quarter worth about $74,000. 81.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.