Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) Shares Bought by Bridge City Capital LLC

Bridge City Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 37,035 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 329 shares during the period. Bridge City Capital LLC’s holdings in Lakeland Financial were worth $2,547,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Albert D Mason Inc. lifted its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. now owns 22,638 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,557,000 after buying an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 68,875 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,736,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank grew its stake in Lakeland Financial by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 50,150 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,448,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 18.8% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $142,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE raised its position in Lakeland Financial by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,480 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $171,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lakeland Financial

In other news, Director M Scott Welch acquired 5,000 shares of Lakeland Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $61.40 per share, for a total transaction of $307,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 39,000 shares in the company, valued at $2,394,600. This represents a 14.71 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Donald Robinson-Gay sold 550 shares of Lakeland Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.25, for a total transaction of $36,437.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,974 shares in the company, valued at $329,527.50. The trade was a 9.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Lakeland Financial Stock Performance

LKFN opened at $60.19 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 $1.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.58 and a beta of 0.63. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $65.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.66.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.05. Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 21.74% and a return on equity of 13.31%. As a group, analysts predict that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Investors of record on Saturday, January 25th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. This is a boost from Lakeland Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.32%. Lakeland Financial’s payout ratio is 55.10%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on LKFN shares. Hovde Group began coverage on shares of Lakeland Financial in a research note on Friday. They set a “market perform” rating and a $66.00 target price on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $74.00 price objective (up from $73.00) on shares of Lakeland Financial in a research report on Monday, January 27th.

Lakeland Financial 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.