Key Points
- M. Scott Welch, a Lakeland Financial director, bought 5,000 shares on March 9 at an average price of $55.45, raising his direct stake to 54,000 shares (a 10.2% increase) valued at about $2.99M; he also purchased 10,000 shares on Feb 27 at $57.95.
- Lakeland reported a quarterly EPS of $1.07 (beating estimates), recently raised its quarterly dividend to $0.52 (annualized $2.08, ~3.7% yield), and trades at a trailing P/E of about 14.1 with a consensus target near $68.
Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN - Get Free Report) Director M Scott Welch acquired 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $55.45 per share, with a total value of $277,250.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 54,000 shares in the company, valued at $2,994,300. This represents a 10.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.
M Scott Welch also recently made the following trade(s):
- On Friday, February 27th, M Scott Welch purchased 10,000 shares of Lakeland Financial stock. The stock was purchased at an average price of $57.95 per share, with a total value of $579,500.00.
Lakeland Financial Price Performance
Shares of LKFN opened at $56.72 on Wednesday. Lakeland Financial Corporation has a 1-year low of $50.00 and a 1-year high of $69.40. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $60.69. The stock has a market cap of $1.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.14 and a beta of 0.73.
Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.02. Lakeland Financial had a return on equity of 14.19% and a net margin of 24.51%.The firm had revenue of $69.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $69.45 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.94 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Lakeland Financial Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Lakeland Financial Increases Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 5th. Investors of record on Sunday, January 25th were paid a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 23rd. This is a positive change from Lakeland Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Lakeland Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 51.87%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of brokerages have recently commented on LKFN. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Lakeland Financial in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Stephens set a $66.00 target price on shares of Lakeland Financial in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Hovde Group downgraded Lakeland Financial from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Lakeland Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $68.00.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on LKFN
Institutional Trading of Lakeland Financial
Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Boston Trust Walden Corp purchased a new position in shares of Lakeland Financial in the 3rd quarter worth $23,968,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Lakeland Financial by 403.6% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 383,525 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $23,568,000 after acquiring an additional 307,371 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Lakeland Financial by 327.9% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 199,323 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $11,848,000 after acquiring an additional 152,738 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Lakeland Financial by 68.8% during the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 321,031 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $20,610,000 after acquiring an additional 130,897 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lakeland Financial in the 1st quarter worth about $6,500,000. 81.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
About Lakeland Financial
(
Get Free Report)
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.
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