Head to Head Review: Lakeland Financial (LKFN) & Its Competitors

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) is one of 919 public companies in the “Banks” industry, but how does it contrast to its rivals? We will compare Lakeland Financial to related businesses based on the strength of its risk, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Risk and Volatility

Lakeland Financial has a beta of 0.77, suggesting that its stock price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lakeland Financial’s rivals have a beta of 0.61, suggesting that their average stock price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

81.2% of Lakeland Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 47.9% of shares of all “Banks” companies are held by institutional investors. 3.0% of Lakeland Financial shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 9.7% of shares of all “Banks” companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Lakeland Financial and its rivals revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lakeland Financial	$421.71 million	$103.36 million	13.68
Lakeland Financial Competitors	$54.79 billion	$2.42 billion	21.06

Lakeland Financial’s rivals have higher revenue and earnings than Lakeland Financial. Lakeland Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Lakeland Financial and its rivals, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lakeland Financial	0	5	0	0	2.00
Lakeland Financial Competitors	7483	30220	27802	1478	2.35

Lakeland Financial presently has a consensus price target of $65.67, indicating a potential upside of 7.39%. As a group, “Banks” companies have a potential upside of 16.55%. Given Lakeland Financial’s rivals stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Lakeland Financial has less favorable growth aspects than its rivals.

Profitability

This table compares Lakeland Financial and its rivals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lakeland Financial	26.51%	15.07%	1.59%
Lakeland Financial Competitors	15.65%	9.44%	0.93%

Dividends

Lakeland Financial pays an annual dividend of $2.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Lakeland Financial pays out 46.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Banks” companies pay a dividend yield of 9.2% and pay out 28.9% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Lakeland Financial has raised its dividend for 14 consecutive years. Lakeland Financial lags its rivals as a dividend stock, given its lower dividend yield and higher payout ratio.

Summary

Lakeland Financial rivals beat Lakeland Financial on 10 of the 15 factors compared.

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. Its loan products include commercial and industrial, commercial real estate and multi-family residential, construction, agri-business and agricultural, consumer 1-4 family mortgage, and other commercial and consumer loans. The company also provides retail and merchant credit card services; corporate treasury management, wealth advisory, and trust services; retail brokerage services, including various financial and investment products, such as annuities and life insurance; and mobile business banking and on-line treasury management services. It serves commercial real estate, manufacturing, agriculture, construction, retail, wholesale, finance and insurance, accommodation and food services, and health care industries. The company was founded in 1872 and is headquartered in Warsaw, Indiana.