Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) Receives “Market Perform” Rating from Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN)‘s stock had its “market perform” rating reissued by analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $74.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $73.00. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price target would indicate a potential upside of 5.00% from the stock’s previous close.

Lakeland Financial Trading Up 4.7 %

LKFN stock opened at $70.48 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $70.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $67.77. The firm has a market cap of $1.80 billion, a PE ratio of 18.30 and a beta of 0.69. Lakeland Financial has a 1-year low of $57.45 and a 1-year high of $78.61.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.05. Lakeland Financial had a return on equity of 13.64% and a net margin of 22.85%. On average, analysts forecast that Lakeland Financial will post 3.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lakeland Financial

In other Lakeland Financial news, EVP Eric H. Ottinger sold 3,959 shares of Lakeland Financial stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.50, for a total value of $290,986.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 32,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,386,912.50. This trade represents a 10.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 4,150 shares of company stock valued at $305,327 in the last 90 days. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lakeland Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $199,000. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 41.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 82,428 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,368,000 after acquiring an additional 24,030 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 130.5% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 50,960 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,320,000 after acquiring an additional 28,851 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 1.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 57,933 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,773,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial in the third quarter valued at about $616,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

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.