Lakeland Financial Corporation $LKFN Holdings Cut by Neumeier Poma Investment Counsel LLC

Neumeier Poma Investment Counsel LLC decreased its stake in Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 482,244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 11,225 shares during the quarter. Lakeland Financial makes up about 2.3% of Neumeier Poma Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Neumeier Poma Investment Counsel LLC owned approximately 1.89% of Lakeland Financial worth $27,517,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Lakeland Financial by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,887,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $107,719,000 after buying an additional 19,967 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Lakeland Financial by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,354,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $83,237,000 after buying an additional 57,252 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in 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 in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Lakeland Financial by 68.8% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 321,031 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,610,000 after buying an additional 130,897 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in Lakeland Financial by 39.4% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 251,470 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,349,000 after buying an additional 71,058 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

Lakeland Financial Trading Up 1.5%

NASDAQ:LKFN opened at $59.29 on Friday. Lakeland Financial Corporation has a 1 year low of $54.36 and a 1 year high of $69.40. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $59.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.48 billion, a PE ratio of 13.89 and a beta of 0.73.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.03. Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 25.81% and a return on equity of 14.79%. The business had revenue of $69.71 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.42 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.78 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Lakeland Financial Corporation will post 4.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 5th. Investors of record on Saturday, April 25th were paid a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 24th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on LKFN shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Lakeland Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Lakeland Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 19th. Finally, Hovde Group increased their price target on shares of Lakeland Financial from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $66.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director M Scott Welch bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $56.23 per share, for a total transaction of $562,300.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 212,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,921,097.38. This represents a 4.95% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Steven D. Ross sold 1,281 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.50, for a total transaction of $80,062.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 27,001 shares in the company, valued at $1,687,562.50. This represents a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 9,336 shares of company stock valued at $570,251. 3.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.