Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) Stock Position Lessened by Natixis Advisors LLC

Natixis Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 33.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 92,669 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 46,112 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC owned 0.36% of Lakeland Financial worth $6,372,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Albert D Mason Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. now owns 22,638 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,557,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 68,875 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,736,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 50,150 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,448,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 18.8% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $142,000 after buying an additional 326 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,480 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $171,000 after buying an additional 357 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Hovde Group assumed coverage on Lakeland Financial in a report on Friday. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $66.00 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $74.00 price objective (up previously from $73.00) on shares of Lakeland Financial in a report on Monday, January 27th.

Insider Activity

In other Lakeland Financial news, Director M Scott Welch purchased 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $61.40 per share, with a total value of $307,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 39,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,394,600. This represents a 14.71 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 value of $36,437.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,974 shares in the company, valued at $329,527.50. The trade was a 9.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Lakeland Financial Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ LKFN opened at $60.19 on Friday. Lakeland Financial Co. has a 12 month low of $57.45 and a 12 month high of $78.61. The company has a market cap of $1.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.58 and a beta of 0.63. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $67.66.

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

Lakeland Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, January 25th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.32%. 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. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.10%.

About Lakeland Financial

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.