Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) Cut to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report released on Sunday.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on LKFN. Hovde Group lifted their price objective on shares of Lakeland Financial from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Lakeland Financial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $66.50.

Lakeland Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LKFN opened at $61.86 on Friday. Lakeland Financial has a 1-year low of $54.36 and a 1-year high of $69.40. The company has a market capitalization of $1.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.19 and a beta of 0.72. The business has a 50-day moving average of $61.45 and a 200-day moving average of $60.12.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $70.87 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.11 million. Lakeland Financial had a return on equity of 14.67% and a net margin of 26.04%.During the same period last year, the business posted $1.04 EPS. Research analysts expect that Lakeland Financial will post 4.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Trading of Lakeland Financial

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of 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 worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd raised its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 20,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,184,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 0.9% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 24,790 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,422,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 17.4% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,689 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $104,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 3.0% during the second quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 9,960 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $611,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

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.