Lakeland Financial Corporation $LKFN Stock: ProShare Advisors LLC Raises Holdings

ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 44.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 163,890 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 50,763 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC owned 0.66% of Lakeland Financial worth $9,450,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $224,600,000. Neumeier Poma Investment Counsel LLC acquired a new position in Lakeland Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,699,466. NFJ Investment Group LLC bought a new position in Lakeland Financial during the 2nd quarter worth $14,365,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Lakeland Financial during the 2nd quarter worth $13,370,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Lakeland Financial in the second quarter worth $12,857,000. 81.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on LKFN. Wall Street Zen cut Lakeland Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 9th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Lakeland Financial in a report on Tuesday, October 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Lakeland Financial from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 27th. Stephens increased their price objective on shares of Lakeland Financial from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Lakeland Financial in a research report on Tuesday, October 27th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lakeland Financial has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $65.67.

Lakeland Financial Stock Performance

Shares of LKFN opened at $61.26 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.83 and a beta of 0.77. Lakeland Financial Corporation has a one year low of $54.36 and a one year high of $64.55. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $59.18 and its 200-day moving average is $59.93.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 26th. The financial services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $73.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $73.74 million. Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 26.51% and a return on equity of 15.07%. The company’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.03 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Lakeland Financial Corporation will post 4.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 5th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, October 25th will be paid a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 23rd. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.53%.

About Lakeland Financial

Lakeland Financial Corporation is a bank holding company headquartered in Warsaw, Indiana. Through its principal subsidiary, Lake City Bank, the company provides banking and financial services to businesses, individuals, families and nonprofit organizations.

Lake City Bank’s services include commercial and consumer lending, residential mortgages, deposit accounts, treasury management, online and mobile banking, trust and investment management, and other wealth management services. Its commercial banking activities serve companies across a range of industries, while its consumer offerings include personal checking, savings, home lending and other credit products.

Founded in 1872, Lake City Bank has a long history of serving communities in Indiana.