Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) Shares Purchased by WINTON GROUP Ltd

WINTON GROUP Ltd raised its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 16,615 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 300 shares during the quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd owned about 0.07% of Lakeland Financial worth $1,142,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $50,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial during the 4th quarter worth about $53,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial during the 3rd quarter worth about $74,000. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 62.3% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,672 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $115,000 after buying an additional 642 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 18.8% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $142,000 after buying an additional 326 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on LKFN shares. Hovde Group assumed coverage on Lakeland Financial in a report on Friday, March 21st. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $66.00 price target for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $74.00 target price (up from $73.00) on shares of Lakeland Financial in a research note on Monday, January 27th.

Lakeland Financial Stock Performance

LKFN opened at $60.26 on Friday. Lakeland Financial Co. has a 1 year low of $57.45 and a 1 year high of $78.61. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $65.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.57 billion, a PE ratio of 16.60 and a beta of 0.63.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last announced 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, January 25th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. This is a positive change from Lakeland Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.32%. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.10%.

Insider Transactions at Lakeland Financial

In related news, EVP Stephanie R. Leniski sold 1,500 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $384,709.34. This represents a 19.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Donald Robinson-Gay sold 550 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.25, for a total value of $36,437.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,974 shares in the company, valued at approximately $329,527.50. This represents a 9.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

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.