Hovde Group Upgrades Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) to “Outperform”

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Hovde Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday,Finviz reports. The brokerage currently has a $72.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock. Hovde Group’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 21.58% from the stock’s previous close.

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Lakeland Financial from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th.

Lakeland Financial Price Performance

Lakeland Financial stock opened at $59.22 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $58.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $65.51. The company has a market capitalization of $1.51 billion, a PE ratio of 16.31 and a beta of 0.58. Lakeland Financial has a one year low of $50.00 and a one year high of $78.61.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.87 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $90.46 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.54 million. Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 21.74% and a return on equity of 13.31%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.91 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Lakeland Financial will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Donald Robinson-Gay sold 550 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.25, for a total transaction of $36,437.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,974 shares in the company, valued at $329,527.50. The trade was a 9.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Stephanie R. Leniski sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.94, for a total value of $92,910.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $384,709.34. This represents a 19.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lakeland Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LKFN. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in shares of Lakeland Financial in the 1st quarter worth $310,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial in the 1st quarter valued at about $827,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 25.0% in the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 10,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $624,000 after acquiring an additional 2,100 shares during the period. CWM LLC boosted its stake in Lakeland Financial by 40.5% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 631 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 8.6% during the first quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 15,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $927,000 after purchasing an additional 1,240 shares during the period. 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.