Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) is Monarch Capital Management Inc.’s 7th Largest Position

Monarch Capital Management Inc. reduced its position in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 155,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,637 shares during the quarter. Lakeland Financial comprises approximately 2.9% of Monarch Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Monarch Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.61% of Lakeland Financial worth $10,664,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in LKFN. Albert D Mason Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. now owns 22,638 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,557,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Lakeland Financial by 58.0% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC grew its stake in Lakeland Financial by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 5,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $349,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 60.0% in the third quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 3.2% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 12,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $793,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares during the last quarter. 81.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Eric H. Ottinger sold 3,959 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.50, for a total transaction of $290,986.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 32,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,386,912.50. The trade was a 10.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold 4,150 shares of company stock worth $305,327 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Lakeland Financial Stock Up 0.4 %

Lakeland Financial stock opened at $68.39 on Friday. Lakeland Financial Co. has a 52 week low of $57.45 and a 52 week high of $78.61. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $71.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.40. The company has a market capitalization of $1.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.76 and a beta of 0.69.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.90 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Increases Dividend

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

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.