Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.52

Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, January 13th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, January 25th will be given a dividend of 0.52 per share by the financial services provider on Thursday, February 5th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 23rd. This is a 4.0% increase from Lakeland Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50.

Lakeland Financial has increased its dividend by an average of 0.1%per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 14 years. Lakeland Financial has a payout ratio of 49.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Lakeland Financial to earn $3.90 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 51.3%.

Lakeland Financial Trading Up 0.3%

LKFN stock traded up $0.16 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $57.04. 3,276 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 187,150. Lakeland Financial has a 1-year low of $50.00 and a 1-year high of $71.76. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $58.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.46 billion, a PE ratio of 15.11 and a beta of 0.73.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.01. Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 23.23% and a return on equity of 13.77%. The company had revenue of $69.03 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $69.15 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.91 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Lakeland Financial will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

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.