Trexquant Investment LP Invests $1.51 Million in Lakeland Financial Corporation $LKFN

Trexquant Investment LP bought a new position in Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 25,356 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,507,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. CWM LLC increased its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 40.5% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 631 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 60.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,085 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 408 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. increased its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 16.4% in the 1st quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,990 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $118,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial in the 1st quarter worth about $229,000. Institutional investors own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Lakeland Financial news, CFO Lisa M. O’neill sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.72, for a total value of $166,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 34,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,292,899.52. This represents a 6.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Eric H. Ottinger sold 4,635 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.07, for a total transaction of $310,869.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 32,282 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,165,153.74. This trade represents a 12.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 7,435 shares of company stock valued at $497,769. 3.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Lakeland Financial Stock Up 1.1%

LKFN opened at $67.93 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.51 and a beta of 0.64. Lakeland Financial Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $50.00 and a fifty-two week high of $78.61. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $64.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $61.24.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.11. Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 22.55% and a return on equity of 13.57%. The firm had revenue of $63.36 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $67.02 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.87 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Lakeland Financial Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Lakeland Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 25th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 25th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 54.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $68.00 target price (up previously from $65.00) on shares of Lakeland Financial in a research report on Monday, July 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.00.

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.