Victory Capital Management Inc. Reduces Holdings in Lakeland Financial Corporation $LKFN

Victory Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 17.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 755,794 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 160,764 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 2.96% of Lakeland Financial worth $48,522,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Boston Trust Walden Corp purchased a new position in Lakeland Financial during the third quarter worth $23,968,000. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 403.6% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 383,525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $23,568,000 after acquiring an additional 307,371 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 327.9% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 199,323 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,848,000 after acquiring an additional 152,738 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial in the first quarter valued at $6,500,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 1,699.4% during the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 105,663 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,493,000 after acquiring an additional 99,791 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director M Scott Welch acquired 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $57.95 per share, for a total transaction of $579,500.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 49,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,839,550. The trade was a 25.64% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Bradley J. Toothaker sold 5,685 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.36, for a total transaction of $331,776.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 20,178 shares in the company, valued at $1,177,588.08. This represents a 21.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on LKFN. Hovde Group cut Lakeland Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Lakeland Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Lakeland Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday. Finally, Stephens set a $66.00 price objective on shares of Lakeland Financial in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. One equities research 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 an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $68.00.

Lakeland Financial Stock Down 1.3%

LKFN stock opened at $56.88 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.18 and a beta of 0.73. Lakeland Financial Corporation has a 52-week low of $50.00 and a 52-week high of $69.40. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $59.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.84.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last released its earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.02. Lakeland Financial had a return on equity of 14.19% and a net margin of 24.51%.The firm had revenue of $69.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $69.45 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.94 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Lakeland Financial Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 5th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, January 25th were paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 23rd. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. This is an increase from Lakeland Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.87%.

Lakeland Financial Profile

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.