Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) EVP Stephanie R. Leniski Sells 1,500 Shares

Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) EVP Stephanie R. Leniski sold 1,500 shares of Lakeland Financial stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.94, for a total transaction of $92,910.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $384,709.34. The trade was a 19.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Lakeland Financial Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LKFN opened at $61.95 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $66.25 and a 200 day moving average of $67.77. The stock has a market cap of $1.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.07 and a beta of 0.63. Lakeland Financial Co. has a 12 month low of $57.45 and a 12 month high of $78.61.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 21.74% and a return on equity of 13.31%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Investors of record on Saturday, January 25th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.23%. This is a boost from Lakeland Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Lakeland Financial’s payout ratio is currently 55.10%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lakeland Financial

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in Lakeland Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Lakeland Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $50,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Lakeland Financial by 809.9% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 737 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 656 shares in the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in Lakeland Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $53,000. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in Lakeland Financial in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $74,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.