Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) Stock Crosses Above 200-Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN)’s share price crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $58.93 and traded as high as $59.85. Lakeland Financial shares last traded at $59.77, with a volume of 159,538 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on LKFN. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Lakeland Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 19th. Hovde Group increased their price objective on Lakeland Financial from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Stephens set a $66.00 target price on Lakeland Financial in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Lakeland Financial in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $66.50.

Lakeland Financial Trading Down 0.5%

The company’s 50 day moving average is $59.00 and its 200 day moving average is $58.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.03 and a beta of 0.74.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.03. Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 25.81% and a return on equity of 14.79%. The firm had revenue of $69.71 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.42 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.78 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Lakeland Financial Corporation will post 4.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 5th. Investors of record on Saturday, April 25th were paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 24th. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lakeland Financial

In other Lakeland Financial news, Director Bradley J. Toothaker sold 5,685 shares of Lakeland Financial stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.36, for a total value of $331,776.60. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 20,178 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,177,588.08. The trade was a 21.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director M Scott Welch acquired 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $56.23 per share, for a total transaction of $562,300.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 212,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,921,097.38. This trade represents a 4.95% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have purchased 25,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,419,050 and have sold 9,121 shares valued at $544,369. 3.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Lakeland Financial by 1.9% in the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 10,154 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $660,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in Lakeland Financial by 40.5% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd increased its stake in Lakeland Financial by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 20,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,184,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in Lakeland Financial by 0.9% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 24,790 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,422,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the period. Finally, Amalgamated Bank increased its stake in Lakeland Financial by 3.4% in the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 7,523 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $483,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the period. 81.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Lakeland Financial

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.