Albert D Mason Inc. Has $1.56 Million Stock Holdings in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN)

Albert D Mason Inc. raised its stake in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,638 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. Albert D Mason Inc.’s holdings in Lakeland Financial were worth $1,557,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 58.0% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the period. nVerses Capital LLC increased its stake in Lakeland Financial by 60.0% during the 3rd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in Lakeland Financial during the third quarter worth $74,000. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 72.2% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $138,000 after buying an additional 890 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 33,337.5% during the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 2,675 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $174,000 after buying an additional 2,667 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

Lakeland Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ:LKFN opened at $68.39 on Friday. Lakeland Financial Co. has a one year low of $57.45 and a one year high of $78.61. The company has a market cap of $1.74 billion, a PE ratio of 17.76 and a beta of 0.69. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $71.37 and a 200-day moving average of $67.37.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.03. Lakeland Financial had a return on equity of 13.64% and a net margin of 22.85%. The firm had revenue of $106.94 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.90 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Investors of record on Saturday, January 25th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Lakeland Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lakeland Financial news, EVP Eric H. Ottinger sold 3,959 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.50, for a total value of $290,986.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 32,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,386,912.50. This trade represents a 10.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 4,150 shares of company stock valued at $305,327 in the last three months. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Lakeland Financial

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.