ProShare Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Lakeland Financial Corporation $LKFN

ProShare Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 8.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 96,273 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,390 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC owned about 0.38% of Lakeland Financial worth $6,181,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of LKFN. State Street Corp raised its stake in Lakeland Financial by 4.4% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,354,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $83,237,000 after purchasing an additional 57,252 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 403.6% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 383,525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $23,568,000 after buying an additional 307,371 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at about $23,968,000. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 327.9% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 199,323 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,848,000 after acquiring an additional 152,738 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 38.2% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 190,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,684,000 after acquiring an additional 52,558 shares during the last quarter. 81.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lakeland Financial Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ LKFN opened at $60.89 on Friday. Lakeland Financial Corporation has a 52-week low of $50.00 and a 52-week high of $69.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.18 and a beta of 0.75. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $59.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The financial services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.11. Lakeland Financial had a return on equity of 14.19% and a net margin of 24.51%.The business had revenue of $69.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $69.45 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.94 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Lakeland Financial Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Lakeland Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 5th. Investors of record on Sunday, January 25th were issued a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 23rd. This is an increase from Lakeland Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LKFN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Lakeland Financial from $68.00 to $66.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $68.00 price objective (down from $74.00) on shares of Lakeland Financial in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Lakeland Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 31st. Hovde Group cut Lakeland Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Lakeland Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $68.00.

Lakeland Financial 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.