Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes $643,000 Position in Lakeland Financial Corporation $LKFN

Posted by Geri Gentry on Jul 8th, 2026

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN – Free Report) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 11,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $643,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of LKFN. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in Lakeland Financial by 40.5% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd grew its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 20,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,184,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 3.0% in the second quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 9,960 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $611,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 186.0% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming lifted its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 2,431 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $139,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

Lakeland Financial Price Performance

Shares of LKFN opened at $61.57 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $60.54 and its 200-day moving average is $59.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.53 billion, a PE ratio of 14.42 and a beta of 0.73. Lakeland Financial Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $54.36 and a fifty-two week high of $69.40.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.03. Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 25.81% and a return on equity of 14.79%. The business had revenue of $69.71 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.42 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.78 EPS. Analysts predict that Lakeland Financial Corporation will post 4.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, April 25th were issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 24th. Lakeland Financial’s payout ratio is currently 48.71%.

Insider Transactions at Lakeland Financial

In related news, EVP Eric H. Ottinger sold 2,136 shares of Lakeland Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.49, for a total transaction of $131,342.64. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 33,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,044,972.93. This trade represents a 6.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Bradley J. Toothaker sold 5,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.62, for a total value of $357,658.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 14,278 shares in the company, valued at approximately $865,532.36. This represents a 29.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 9,336 shares of company stock worth $570,251 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on LKFN shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Lakeland Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, April 19th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Lakeland Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Hovde Group increased their price objective on shares of Lakeland Financial from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $66.50.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on LKFN

About Lakeland Financial

(Free Report)

Lakeland Financial Corporation is a bank holding company based in Warsaw, Indiana, that operates through its principal subsidiary, Lakeland Bank. The company offers a full range of commercial and consumer banking services, including deposit products such as checking accounts, savings accounts and certificates of deposit, as well as a variety of loan offerings spanning commercial real estate, agricultural, mortgage, consumer and small-business lending.

Originally organized in 1893 as Kosciusko County State Bank, the enterprise reorganized as a bank holding company in 1984 to facilitate strategic growth and diversification.