Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) to Issue $0.48 Quarterly Dividend

Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, October 8th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 25th will be given a dividend of 0.48 per share by the financial services provider on Tuesday, November 5th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 25th.

Lakeland Financial has raised its dividend by an average of 15.3% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 13 consecutive years. Lakeland Financial has a dividend payout ratio of 54.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Lakeland Financial to earn $3.46 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.92 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 55.5%.

Lakeland Financial Price Performance

LKFN opened at $65.01 on Wednesday. Lakeland Financial has a 1-year low of $46.26 and a 1-year high of $73.22. The stock has a market cap of $1.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.96 and a beta of 0.65. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $65.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.16.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.02. Lakeland Financial had a return on equity of 14.72% and a net margin of 23.70%. The company had revenue of $68.74 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.70 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.57 earnings per share. Lakeland Financial’s revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Lakeland Financial will post 3.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lakeland Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lakeland Financial

In other news, CAO Brok A. Lahrman sold 415 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.91, for a total value of $28,597.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,739 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $119,834.49. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Lakeland Financial news, CAO Brok A. Lahrman sold 415 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.91, for a total transaction of $28,597.65. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,739 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $119,834.49. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Kyra E. Clark sold 420 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.93, for a total transaction of $28,950.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $494,641.68. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 13,635 shares of company stock worth $914,604. 3.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.