Monarch Capital Management Inc. Sells 2,637 Shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN)

Monarch Capital Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 155,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,637 shares during the quarter. Lakeland Financial makes up 2.9% of Monarch Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Monarch Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Lakeland Financial were worth $10,664,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of LKFN. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Lakeland Financial by 5.8% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 233,836 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,386,000 after acquiring an additional 12,846 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 816,549 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $50,232,000 after purchasing an additional 11,118 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 686.8% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 57,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,510,000 after buying an additional 49,800 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its position in Lakeland Financial by 5.1% in the second quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 5,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $349,000 after buying an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its stake in Lakeland Financial by 7.7% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 56,141 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,454,000 after buying an additional 4,011 shares during the period. 81.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Lakeland Financial

In other Lakeland Financial news, EVP Eric H. Ottinger sold 3,959 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.50, for a total value of $290,986.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 32,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,386,912.50. This trade represents a 10.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 4,150 shares of company stock valued at $305,327. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Lakeland Financial Stock Performance

Shares of LKFN stock opened at $68.39 on Friday. Lakeland Financial Co. has a one year low of $57.45 and a one year high of $78.61. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $71.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $67.40. The firm has a market cap of $1.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.76 and a beta of 0.69.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $106.94 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.90 million. Lakeland Financial had a return on equity of 13.64% and a net margin of 22.85%. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, January 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This is a positive change from Lakeland Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.92%. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 49.87%.

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.