Quantbot Technologies LP Sells 1,439 Shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN)

Quantbot Technologies LP lowered its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 29.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,386 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,439 shares during the quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in Lakeland Financial were worth $233,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Lakeland Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $50,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in Lakeland Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $53,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in Lakeland Financial in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $74,000. KBC Group NV lifted its position in Lakeland Financial by 62.3% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,672 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $115,000 after purchasing an additional 642 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 18.8% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $142,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Hovde Group initiated coverage on shares of Lakeland Financial in a research note on Friday, March 21st. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $66.00 target price on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $74.00 price objective (up previously from $73.00) on shares of Lakeland Financial in a research report on Monday, January 27th.

Lakeland Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ LKFN opened at $60.26 on Friday. Lakeland Financial Co. has a fifty-two week low of $57.45 and a fifty-two week high of $78.61. The stock has a market cap of $1.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.60 and a beta of 0.63. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $65.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.50.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Lakeland Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. This is a positive change from Lakeland Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.32%. Lakeland Financial’s payout ratio is presently 55.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Stephanie R. Leniski sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.94, for a total value of $92,910.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $384,709.34. This represents a 19.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director M Scott Welch acquired 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 39,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,394,600. This trade represents a 14.71 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 3.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Lakeland Financial 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.