Voya Investment Management LLC Sells 591 Shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN)

Voya Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 7.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,711 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 591 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Lakeland Financial were worth $530,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $50,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its position in Lakeland Financial by 809.9% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 737 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 656 shares during the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $53,000. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 62.3% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,672 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $115,000 after purchasing an additional 642 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 18.8% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $142,000 after buying an additional 326 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Lakeland Financial

In other Lakeland Financial news, EVP Stephanie R. Leniski sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $384,709.34. This trade represents a 19.45 % 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, SVP Donald Robinson-Gay sold 550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.25, for a total transaction of $36,437.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,974 shares in the company, valued at $329,527.50. This represents a 9.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on LKFN shares. Hovde Group upgraded shares of Lakeland Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $72.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Lakeland Financial from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th.

Lakeland Financial Price Performance

Lakeland Financial stock opened at $59.63 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $57.59 and its 200 day moving average is $65.35. Lakeland Financial Co. has a one year low of $50.00 and a one year high of $78.61. The firm has a market cap of $1.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.43 and a beta of 0.58.

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

Lakeland Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 25th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 25th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.35%. Lakeland Financial’s payout ratio is currently 57.14%.

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.