Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) Coverage Initiated at Hovde Group

Hovde Group started coverage on shares of Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) in a report issued on Friday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage issued a market perform rating and a $66.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock.

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

Lakeland Financial Stock Down 1.0 %

LKFN opened at $60.19 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.58 and a beta of 0.63. Lakeland Financial has a 52-week low of $57.45 and a 52-week high of $78.61. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $65.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $67.65.

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

Lakeland Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, January 25th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.32%. This is a boost from Lakeland Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 55.10%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Donald Robinson-Gay sold 550 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.25, for a total value of $36,437.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,974 shares in the company, valued at $329,527.50. This represents a 9.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Stephanie R. Leniski sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.94, for a total transaction of $92,910.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $384,709.34. This trade represents a 19.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lakeland Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Lakeland Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Lakeland Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $50,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its position in Lakeland Financial by 809.9% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 737 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 656 shares during the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in Lakeland Financial during the fourth quarter worth 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 currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.