Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) Shares Sold by Neumeier Poma Investment Counsel LLC

Neumeier Poma Investment Counsel LLC lowered its position in shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 476,113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 12,389 shares during the quarter. Lakeland Financial accounts for 3.2% of Neumeier Poma Investment Counsel LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Neumeier Poma Investment Counsel LLC owned 1.87% of Lakeland Financial worth $32,738,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LKFN. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Lakeland Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $23,111,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $10,560,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,940,356 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $133,419,000 after buying an additional 100,001 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Lakeland Financial by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 946,280 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $65,066,000 after acquiring an additional 43,312 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 130.5% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 50,960 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,320,000 after acquiring an additional 28,851 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $74.00 price target (up from $73.00) on shares of Lakeland Financial in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Hovde Group assumed coverage on shares of Lakeland Financial in a report on Friday, March 21st. They set a “market perform” rating and a $66.00 price objective on the stock.

Lakeland Financial Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of LKFN stock opened at $60.98 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $1.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.80 and a beta of 0.63. Lakeland Financial Co. has a fifty-two week low of $57.45 and a fifty-two week high of $78.61. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $67.55.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.05. Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 21.74% and a return on equity of 13.31%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Lakeland Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Investors of record on Saturday, January 25th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.28%. This is a positive change from Lakeland Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lakeland Financial

In related news, SVP Donald Robinson-Gay sold 550 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.25, for a total value of $36,437.50. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,974 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $329,527.50. This trade represents a 9.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Stephanie R. Leniski sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.94, for a total value of $92,910.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $384,709.34. This represents a 19.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.