Everence Capital Management Inc. Makes New Investment in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN)

Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 3,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 47.6% in the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 431 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 22,306 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,628,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 78.9% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 381 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 45.3% during the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 6.2% during the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 3,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $224,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LKFN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Stephens increased their price objective on Lakeland Financial from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Raymond James increased their price objective on Lakeland Financial from $60.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th.

Lakeland Financial Stock Up 4.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LKFN opened at $61.65 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $63.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $60.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Lakeland Financial Co. has a 12-month low of $43.05 and a 12-month high of $73.22. The firm has a market cap of $1.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.89 and a beta of 0.67.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.10. Lakeland Financial had a return on equity of 14.89% and a net margin of 23.85%. The firm had revenue of $65.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.81 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.01 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.49 EPS for the current year.

Lakeland Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 25th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 24th. Lakeland Financial’s payout ratio is 52.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lakeland Financial news, CEO David M. Findlay sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.26, for a total value of $783,120.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $925,060.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO David M. Findlay sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.26, for a total value of $783,120.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,175 shares in the company, valued at approximately $925,060.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Lisa M. O’neill sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.70, for a total value of $98,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 34,655 shares in the company, valued at $2,276,833.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 53,728 shares of company stock valued at $3,670,449. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

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.