Stifel Financial Corp Purchases 4,315 Shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN)

Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 66,295 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,315 shares during the quarter. Stifel Financial Corp’s holdings in Lakeland Financial were worth $4,317,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Lakeland Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 342.5% during the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 459 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 58.0% during the 3rd 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. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Lakeland Financial in the 3rd quarter worth about $74,000. Finally, US Bancorp DE grew its position in Lakeland Financial by 72.2% during the third 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 during the period. 81.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Eric H. Ottinger sold 3,959 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.50, for a total value of $290,986.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 32,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,386,912.50. This trade represents a 10.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 4,150 shares of company stock valued at $305,327 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Lakeland Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ LKFN opened at $72.76 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.86 billion, a PE ratio of 18.90 and a beta of 0.67. Lakeland Financial Co. has a 52-week low of $57.45 and a 52-week high of $78.61. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $69.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $66.01.

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

Lakeland Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th were paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.64%. Lakeland Financial’s payout ratio is presently 49.87%.

Lakeland Financial Company Profile

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.