Insider Selling: Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) EVP Sells 1,500 Shares of Stock

Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) EVP Stephanie R. Leniski sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.94, for a total value of $92,910.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $384,709.34. This represents a 19.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Lakeland Financial Stock Performance

Shares of LKFN stock traded down $0.27 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $61.93. The company had a trading volume of 3,900 shares, compared to its average volume of 108,933. The firm has a market cap of $1.61 billion, a PE ratio of 17.06 and a beta of 0.63. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $66.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $67.85. Lakeland Financial Co. has a one year low of $57.45 and a one year high of $78.61.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last released 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%. 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Investors of record on Saturday, January 25th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This is a boost from Lakeland Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.10%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lakeland Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lakeland Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $23,111,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in Lakeland Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $10,560,000. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in Lakeland Financial by 54.0% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 307,242 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,126,000 after acquiring an additional 107,765 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,940,356 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $133,419,000 after purchasing an additional 100,001 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 132.2% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 134,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,248,000 after purchasing an additional 76,562 shares during the period. 81.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.