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 Lakeland Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,394,600. This trade represents a 14.71 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Lakeland Financial Trading Up 1.8 %

Lakeland Financial stock opened at $62.33 on Friday. Lakeland Financial Co. has a 1-year low of $57.45 and a 1-year high of $78.61. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $66.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.88. The company has a market cap of $1.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.17 and a beta of 0.63.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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, equities research analysts forecast that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.7 EPS 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 paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.21%. This is a boost from Lakeland Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.10%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lakeland Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Albert D Mason Inc. raised its position in Lakeland Financial by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. now owns 22,638 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,557,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 68,875 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,736,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 50,150 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,448,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd lifted its stake in Lakeland Financial by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 16,615 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,142,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 4,954 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $341,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares during the period. 81.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.