Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) Sets New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $75.50 and last traded at $74.95, with a volume of 22847 shares. The stock had previously closed at $66.53.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Lakeland Financial from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th.

Lakeland Financial Stock Performance

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $65.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $63.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.85 billion, a PE ratio of 18.64 and a beta of 0.65.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.03. Lakeland Financial had a return on equity of 13.64% and a net margin of 22.85%. The business had revenue of $106.94 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.90 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 25th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 25th. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lakeland Financial

In other Lakeland Financial news, President Kristin Pruitt sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $804,720.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 10,252 shares in the company, valued at $687,499.12. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, SVP James Rickard Donovan sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.42, for a total transaction of $52,336.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,568 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $625,938.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, President Kristin Pruitt sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $804,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 10,252 shares in the company, valued at approximately $687,499.12. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,950 shares of company stock worth $868,383 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lakeland Financial

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 1.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 816,549 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $50,232,000 after acquiring an additional 11,118 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Lakeland Financial by 5.8% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 233,836 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,386,000 after buying an additional 12,846 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in 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 worth $14,327,000 after buying an additional 684 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in Lakeland Financial by 132.5% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 98,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,042,000 after acquiring an additional 55,975 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 15.6% during the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 75,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,911,000 after acquiring an additional 10,194 shares during the period. 81.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Lakeland Financial Company 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.