Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. Invests $597,000 in Lakeland Financial Corporation $LKFN

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 9,722 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $597,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 24.7% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 28,497 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,694,000 after purchasing an additional 5,651 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 7,711 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $458,000 after buying an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Lakeland Financial by 2.3% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 476,997 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,353,000 after acquiring an additional 10,728 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Lakeland Financial by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 130,555 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,760,000 after purchasing an additional 3,663 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Lakeland Financial by 5.6% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 999,033 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $59,383,000 after buying an additional 52,753 shares during the period. 81.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lakeland Financial Stock Performance

Shares of LKFN opened at $58.22 on Friday. Lakeland Financial Corporation has a one year low of $50.00 and a one year high of $78.61. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $61.91 and its 200-day moving average is $62.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.36 and a beta of 0.67.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $69.03 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $69.15 million. Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 23.23% and a return on equity of 13.77%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.91 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Lakeland Financial Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 5th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, October 25th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 24th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on LKFN. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Lakeland Financial in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $68.00 price objective (down previously from $74.00) on shares of Lakeland Financial in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Lakeland Financial from $68.00 to $66.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.67.

Insider Activity at Lakeland Financial

In related news, EVP Eric H. Ottinger sold 4,635 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.07, for a total transaction of $310,869.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 32,282 shares in the company, valued at $2,165,153.74. This trade represents a 12.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 3.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.