GSA Capital Partners LLP Buys 10,685 Shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN)

GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 215.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,649 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,685 shares during the quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP owned about 0.06% of Lakeland Financial worth $1,019,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Lakeland Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 342.5% in the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 459 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted 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 valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 72.2% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $138,000 after buying an additional 890 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Lakeland Financial in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $201,000. 81.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lakeland Financial Trading Down 0.9 %

LKFN opened at $73.22 on Friday. Lakeland Financial Co. has a 12 month low of $53.97 and a 12 month high of $78.31. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $66.26 and a 200 day moving average of $64.15. The firm has a market cap of $1.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.02 and a beta of 0.65.

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

Lakeland Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th were given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 25th. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, President Kristin Pruitt sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $804,720.00. Following the transaction, the president now owns 10,252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $687,499.12. This represents a 53.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP James Rickard Donovan sold 800 shares of Lakeland Financial stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.42, for a total value of $52,336.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,568 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $625,938.56. This trade represents a 7.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,950 shares of company stock worth $868,383 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

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.