Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $7.83 Million Stake in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its position in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 120,276 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,531 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Lakeland Financial were worth $7,832,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 1.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 816,549 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $50,232,000 after purchasing an additional 11,118 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Lakeland Financial by 5.8% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 233,836 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,386,000 after acquiring an additional 12,846 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 232,888 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,327,000 after acquiring an additional 684 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in Lakeland Financial by 132.5% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 98,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,042,000 after purchasing an additional 55,975 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 24.8% during the second quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 65,224 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,013,000 after purchasing an additional 12,975 shares during the period. 81.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lakeland Financial Stock Down 0.7 %

Lakeland Financial stock opened at $72.67 on Wednesday. Lakeland Financial Co. has a twelve month low of $53.97 and a twelve month high of $78.31. The stock has a market cap of $1.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.88 and a beta of 0.65. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $66.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $64.39.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $106.94 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.90 million. Lakeland Financial had a return on equity of 13.64% and a net margin of 22.85%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th were paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 25th. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, President Kristin Pruitt sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $804,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 10,252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $687,499.12. This represents a 53.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP James Rickard Donovan sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.42, for a total transaction of $52,336.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,568 shares in the company, valued at $625,938.56. This represents a 7.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 16,950 shares of company stock worth $1,162,383 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Lakeland Financial from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th.

About Lakeland Financial

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.