KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Purchases Shares of 5,500 Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 5,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $378,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Lakeland Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $50,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $53,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of Lakeland Financial in the third quarter valued at about $74,000. KBC Group NV lifted its position in Lakeland Financial by 62.3% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,672 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $115,000 after buying an additional 642 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew 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 acquiring an additional 326 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Lakeland Financial

In other Lakeland Financial news, Director M Scott Welch acquired 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $61.40 per share, with a total value of $307,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 39,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,394,600. This represents a 14.71 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Donald Robinson-Gay sold 550 shares of Lakeland Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.25, for a total value of $36,437.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,974 shares in the company, valued at approximately $329,527.50. This represents a 9.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Lakeland Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LKFN opened at $53.79 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.82 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a 50 day moving average of $64.21 and a 200-day moving average of $67.22. Lakeland Financial Co. has a one year low of $51.91 and a one year high of $78.61.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.94 EPS 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Lakeland Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, January 25th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.72%. This is a boost from Lakeland Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.10%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on LKFN shares. Hovde Group initiated coverage on shares of Lakeland Financial in a research note on Friday, March 21st. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $66.00 target price for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $74.00 price objective (up previously 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.