Ieq Capital LLC Buys Shares of 23,875 Lakeland Financial Corporation $LKFN

Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new position in Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 23,875 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,474,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LKFN. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,887,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $107,719,000 after acquiring an additional 19,967 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in Lakeland Financial by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 321,410 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,443,000 after purchasing an additional 14,584 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in Lakeland Financial by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 106,514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,078,000 after purchasing an additional 10,241 shares in the last quarter. NFJ Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in Lakeland Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $14,365,000. Finally, Heartland Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Lakeland Financial in the 2nd quarter worth $1,435,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded Lakeland Financial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Lakeland Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lakeland Financial currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $66.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lakeland Financial

In other news, Director Bradley J. Toothaker sold 5,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.62, for a total value of $357,658.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 14,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $865,532.36. This represents a 29.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Lakeland Financial Stock Performance

Shares of LKFN stock opened at $59.47 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.64 and a beta of 0.72. Lakeland Financial Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $54.36 and a fifty-two week high of $69.40. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $61.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $60.16.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $70.87 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.11 million. Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 26.04% and a return on equity of 14.67%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.04 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Lakeland Financial Corporation will post 4.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Lakeland Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 5th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, July 25th were given a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 24th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Lakeland Financial’s payout ratio is presently 47.71%.

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.