Victory Capital Management Inc. Cuts Holdings in Lakeland Financial Corporation $LKFN

Victory Capital Management Inc. lowered its position in Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 17.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 755,794 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 160,764 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Lakeland Financial were worth $48,522,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LKFN. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 13.0% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 60,794 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,614,000 after purchasing an additional 6,987 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 90.5% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 32,427 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,927,000 after purchasing an additional 15,404 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 14,868 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $884,000 after purchasing an additional 716 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Lakeland Financial by 327.9% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 199,323 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,848,000 after purchasing an additional 152,738 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in Lakeland Financial during the 1st quarter worth approximately $215,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on LKFN. Hovde Group cut shares of Lakeland Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Lakeland Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Stephens set a $66.00 target price on shares of Lakeland Financial in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Lakeland Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lakeland Financial has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $68.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director M Scott Welch purchased 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $57.95 per share, with a total value of $579,500.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 49,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,839,550. This trade represents a 25.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bradley J. Toothaker sold 5,685 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.36, for a total transaction of $331,776.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 20,178 shares in the company, valued at $1,177,588.08. This represents a 21.98% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Lakeland Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LKFN opened at $56.88 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $59.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.84. The company has a market cap of $1.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.18 and a beta of 0.73. Lakeland Financial Corporation has a one year low of $50.00 and a one year high of $69.40.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $69.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $69.45 million. Lakeland Financial had a return on equity of 14.19% and a net margin of 24.51%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.94 EPS. Analysts predict that Lakeland Financial Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Lakeland Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 5th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, January 25th were paid a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. This is a boost from Lakeland Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 23rd. Lakeland Financial’s payout ratio is currently 51.87%.

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.