Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) Coverage Initiated at Hovde Group

Analysts at Hovde Group assumed coverage on shares of Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm set a “market perform” rating and a $66.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock. Hovde Group’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 8.55% from the stock’s current price.

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $74.00 price objective (up from $73.00) on shares of Lakeland Financial in a research note on Monday, January 27th.

Lakeland Financial Stock Performance

Lakeland Financial stock opened at $60.80 on Friday. Lakeland Financial has a one year low of $57.45 and a one year high of $78.61. The company has a market cap of $1.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.75 and a beta of 0.63. The business has a fifty day moving average of $66.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.72.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.05. Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 21.74% and a return on equity of 13.31%. Sell-side analysts predict that Lakeland Financial will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lakeland Financial news, EVP Stephanie R. Leniski sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.94, for a total transaction of $92,910.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $384,709.34. This trade represents a 19.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director M Scott Welch acquired 5,000 shares of Lakeland Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $61.40 per share, for a total transaction of $307,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 39,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,394,600. This represents a 14.71 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LKFN. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Lakeland Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $50,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 809.9% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 737 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 656 shares during the period. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial during the fourth quarter worth $53,000. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial in the third quarter valued at $74,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

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.