Heartland Advisors Inc. Buys 2,892 Shares of Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN)

Heartland Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 13.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,892 shares during the quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. owned 0.10% of Lakeland Financial worth $1,499,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 126,892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,725,000 after buying an additional 586 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in Lakeland Financial by 19.5% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 32,843 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,258,000 after acquiring an additional 5,349 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in shares of Lakeland Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $378,000. LPL Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 65,825 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,526,000 after purchasing an additional 4,044 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,940,356 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $133,419,000 after purchasing an additional 100,001 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Lakeland Financial

In other news, Director Melinda Jo Truex acquired 8,309 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $60.11 per share, for a total transaction of $499,453.99. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 16,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $992,235.77. This trade represents a 101.35% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Lakeland Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LKFN opened at $66.02 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $61.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.69 billion, a PE ratio of 18.86 and a beta of 0.60. Lakeland Financial Corporation has a 52 week low of $50.00 and a 52 week high of $78.61.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.11. Lakeland Financial had a return on equity of 12.71% and a net margin of 21.08%. The company had revenue of $63.36 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $67.02 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.87 EPS. Analysts predict that Lakeland Financial Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 25th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 25th. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.14%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on LKFN. Hovde Group upgraded shares of Lakeland Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $72.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective 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 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.