Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) Hits New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $78.49 and last traded at $77.16, with a volume of 7845 shares. The stock had previously closed at $75.38.

Lakeland Financial Stock Down 1.6 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.38 and a beta of 0.65. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $67.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $64.91.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.03. The business 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 earned $0.98 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 25th were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 25th. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP James Rickard Donovan sold 800 shares of Lakeland Financial stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.42, for a total value of $52,336.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,568 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $625,938.56. This trade represents a 7.72 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Eric H. Ottinger sold 3,959 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.50, for a total transaction of $290,986.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 32,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,386,912.50. This represents a 10.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,950 shares of company stock worth $357,663 in the last three months. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lakeland Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LKFN. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 1.6% in the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 12,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $787,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Lakeland Financial by 58.0% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its position in Lakeland Financial by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 5,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $349,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in Lakeland Financial by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 7,269 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $447,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares during the period. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC grew its stake in Lakeland Financial by 60.0% during the 3rd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.15% 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.