Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Reaffirms Market Perform Rating for Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN)

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN)‘s stock had its “market perform” rating reissued by stock analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $74.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their prior price target of $73.00. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price objective indicates a potential upside of 6.75% from the stock’s previous close.

Lakeland Financial Price Performance

Shares of LKFN stock opened at $69.32 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.01 and a beta of 0.69. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $70.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $67.87. Lakeland Financial has a 1 year low of $57.45 and a 1 year high of $78.61.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 13.64% and a net margin of 22.85%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Lakeland Financial will post 3.43 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Lakeland Financial

In related news, EVP Eric H. Ottinger sold 3,959 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.50, for a total value of $290,986.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 32,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,386,912.50. The trade was a 10.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 4,150 shares of company stock valued at $305,327. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lakeland Financial

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 58.0% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Lakeland Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $50,000. nVerses Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 60.0% during the third quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Lakeland Financial during the third quarter worth approximately $74,000. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 62.3% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,672 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $115,000 after acquiring an additional 642 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.15% 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.