Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) Shares Sold by Amalgamated Bank

Amalgamated Bank decreased its holdings in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 7,546 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 223 shares during the quarter. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Lakeland Financial were worth $491,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of LKFN. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in Lakeland Financial by 342.5% during the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 459 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Lakeland Financial by 58.0% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 72.2% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $138,000 after acquiring an additional 890 shares during the period. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Lakeland Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at $201,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

Lakeland Financial Price Performance

Shares of LKFN opened at $73.22 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $66.43 and its 200-day moving average is $64.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.02 and a beta of 0.65. Lakeland Financial Co. has a 12-month low of $53.97 and a 12-month high of $78.31.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $106.94 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.90 million. Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 22.85% and a return on equity of 13.64%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 25th were paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 25th. Lakeland Financial’s payout ratio is 49.87%.

Insider Activity at Lakeland Financial

In other Lakeland Financial news, President Kristin Pruitt sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $804,720.00. Following the sale, the president now owns 10,252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $687,499.12. The trade was a 53.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP James Rickard Donovan sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.42, for a total transaction of $52,336.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,568 shares in the company, valued at approximately $625,938.56. The trade was a 7.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,950 shares of company stock worth $868,383 in the last ninety days. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Lakeland Financial from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th.

About Lakeland Financial

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.