Smartleaf Asset Management LLC Purchases 1,085 Shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN)

Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 12.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,628 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,085 shares during the quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Lakeland Financial were worth $664,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $50,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $53,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at $74,000. KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 62.3% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,672 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $115,000 after acquiring an additional 642 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE lifted its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 72.2% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $138,000 after acquiring an additional 890 shares during the period. 81.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lakeland Financial Stock Up 0.0 %

Lakeland Financial stock opened at $66.42 on Tuesday. Lakeland Financial Co. has a 12-month low of $57.45 and a 12-month high of $78.61. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $67.82 and its 200 day moving average is $68.07. The company has a market capitalization of $1.70 billion, a PE ratio of 18.30 and a beta of 0.68.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.05. Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 21.74% and a return on equity of 13.31%. Sell-side analysts expect that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, January 25th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is an increase from Lakeland Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.01%. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.10%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lakeland Financial news, SVP Donald Robinson-Gay sold 550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.25, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $74.00 target price (up previously from $73.00) on shares of Lakeland Financial in a research report on Monday, January 27th.

Lakeland Financial Profile

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.