Bradley Toothaker Sells 5,685 Shares of Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) Stock

Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN) Director Bradley Toothaker sold 5,685 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.36, for a total transaction of $331,776.60. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 20,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,177,588.08. This represents a 21.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Lakeland Financial Price Performance

Lakeland Financial stock opened at $59.34 on Thursday. Lakeland Financial Corporation has a 1 year low of $50.00 and a 1 year high of $69.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $59.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.05. The company has a market cap of $1.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.80 and a beta of 0.75.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.02. Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 24.51% and a return on equity of 14.19%. The company had revenue of $69.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $69.45 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.94 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Lakeland Financial Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Lakeland Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 5th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, January 25th were paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This is a boost from Lakeland Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 23rd. Lakeland Financial’s payout ratio is currently 51.87%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in Lakeland Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $795,000. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL purchased a new position in Lakeland Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $5,416,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 148.1% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 82,130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,686,000 after acquiring an additional 49,020 shares in the last quarter. Man Group plc acquired a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $991,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 16.0% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 8,212 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $469,000 after acquiring an additional 1,133 shares during the last quarter. 81.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Hovde Group cut Lakeland Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Lakeland Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 31st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Lakeland Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Stephens set a $66.00 target price on shares of Lakeland Financial in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lakeland Financial presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $68.00.

About Lakeland Financial

Lakeland Financial Corporation is a bank holding company based in Warsaw, Indiana, that operates through its principal subsidiary, Lakeland Bank. The company offers a full range of commercial and consumer banking services, including deposit products such as checking accounts, savings accounts and certificates of deposit, as well as a variety of loan offerings spanning commercial real estate, agricultural, mortgage, consumer and small-business lending.

Originally organized in 1893 as Kosciusko County State Bank, the enterprise reorganized as a bank holding company in 1984 to facilitate strategic growth and diversification.