Insider Selling: Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) SVP Sells 420 Shares of Stock

Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) SVP Kyra E. Clark sold 420 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.93, for a total value of $28,950.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $494,641.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Lakeland Financial Stock Performance

Shares of LKFN opened at $65.30 on Friday. Lakeland Financial Co. has a 12-month low of $44.47 and a 12-month high of $73.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.04 and a beta of 0.67. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $62.82 and its 200-day moving average is $63.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.02. Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 23.70% and a return on equity of 14.72%. The firm had revenue of $68.74 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.70 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.57 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 25th. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 53.04%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Lakeland Financial from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lakeland Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 24.8% in the 2nd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 65,224 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,013,000 after acquiring an additional 12,975 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in Lakeland Financial during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in Lakeland Financial by 10.8% during the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 5,431 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $334,000 after purchasing an additional 529 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 0.3% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 232,888 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,327,000 after purchasing an additional 684 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Merchants Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial in the second quarter worth $215,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

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.