Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) Downgraded by Zacks Investment Research

Zacks Investment Research lowered shares of Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Wednesday, Zacks.com reports.

According to Zacks, “LAKELAND FINANCIAL CORP. is a bank holding company engaged in general banking business. “

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on LKFN. TheStreet upgraded Lakeland Financial from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a report on Tuesday, October 20th. BidaskClub lowered Lakeland Financial from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Thursday, November 5th.

Shares of Lakeland Financial stock opened at $58.48 on Wednesday. Lakeland Financial has a one year low of $30.49 and a one year high of $59.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $53.22 and its 200 day moving average is $48.09. The firm has a market cap of $1.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.33 and a beta of 0.93.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last announced its earnings results on Saturday, October 31st. The financial services provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $53.03 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $50.80 million. Lakeland Financial had a return on equity of 13.31% and a net margin of 33.90%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Lakeland Financial will post 3.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

In other news, Director Michael L. Kubacki sold 21,877 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.47, for a total value of $1,126,009.19. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 4.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LKFN. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 119.0% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 347,420 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,187,000 after purchasing an additional 188,772 shares in the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 39.1% in the third quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 632,138 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,042,000 after purchasing an additional 177,647 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 69.2% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 73,840 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,042,000 after purchasing an additional 30,199 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 4.6% during the third quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 442,313 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,223,000 after acquiring an additional 19,330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 1.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,290,956 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $60,145,000 after acquiring an additional 17,032 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.22% 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. The company accepts various deposit products, such as noninterest bearing, interest-bearing checking, savings, money market, NOW, and demand deposits. Its loan products include commercial and industrial, commercial real estate and multi-family residential, agri-business and agricultural, consumer 1-4 family mortgage, and other consumer loans.

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