Renaissance Technologies LLC Trims Holdings in Lakeland Financial Corporation $LKFN

Renaissance Technologies LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 55.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 58,544 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 71,685 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in Lakeland Financial were worth $3,359,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 186.0% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 1,212.5% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 582 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 40.5% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its position in Lakeland Financial by 118.9% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 996 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 541 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new stake in Lakeland Financial in the 1st quarter valued at about $86,000. 81.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lakeland Financial

In related news, Director Bradley J. Toothaker sold 5,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.62, for a total transaction of $357,658.00. Following the sale, the director owned 14,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $865,532.36. This trade represents a 29.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 3.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Hovde Group upped their target price on shares of Lakeland Financial from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Weiss Ratings lowered Lakeland Financial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Lakeland Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $66.50.

Lakeland Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LKFN opened at $61.73 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $61.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $60.10. Lakeland Financial Corporation has a one year low of $54.36 and a one year high of $69.40. The firm has a market cap of $1.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.16 and a beta of 0.72.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $70.87 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.11 million. Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 26.04% and a return on equity of 14.67%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.04 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Lakeland Financial Corporation will post 4.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 5th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, July 25th were given a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 24th. Lakeland Financial’s payout ratio is presently 47.71%.

About Lakeland Financial

Lakeland Financial Corporation is a bank holding company based in Warsaw, Indiana, that operates through its principal subsidiary, Lakeland Bank. The company offers a full range of commercial and consumer banking services, including deposit products such as checking accounts, savings accounts and certificates of deposit, as well as a variety of loan offerings spanning commercial real estate, agricultural, mortgage, consumer and small-business lending.

Originally organized in 1893 as Kosciusko County State Bank, the enterprise reorganized as a bank holding company in 1984 to facilitate strategic growth and diversification.