Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) Director M Scott Welch Acquires 5,000 Shares

Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN) Director M Scott Welch acquired 5,000 shares of Lakeland Financial stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $55.45 per share, with a total value of $277,250.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 54,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,994,300. The trade was a 10.20% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

M Scott Welch also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, February 27th, M Scott Welch bought 10,000 shares of Lakeland Financial stock. The shares were acquired at an average price of $57.95 per share, for a total transaction of $579,500.00.

Lakeland Financial Price Performance

Shares of Lakeland Financial stock opened at $56.72 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $59.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.69. Lakeland Financial Corporation has a 12 month low of $50.00 and a 12 month high of $69.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.14 and a beta of 0.73.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $69.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $69.45 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.94 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Lakeland Financial Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Lakeland Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 5th. Investors of record on Sunday, January 25th were issued 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 dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 23rd. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 51.87%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lakeland Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 13.0% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 60,794 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,614,000 after purchasing an additional 6,987 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 90.5% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 32,427 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,927,000 after buying an additional 15,404 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in Lakeland Financial by 5.1% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 14,868 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $884,000 after buying an additional 716 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Lakeland Financial by 327.9% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 199,323 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,848,000 after buying an additional 152,738 shares during the period. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in Lakeland Financial in the first quarter valued at about $215,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on LKFN shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Lakeland Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday. Hovde Group downgraded shares of Lakeland Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Stephens set a $66.00 price target on shares of Lakeland Financial in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Lakeland Financial in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lakeland Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $68.00.

Lakeland Financial Company Profile

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.