A fantastic week for Lakeland Financial Corporation's (NASDAQ:LKFN) 83% institutional owners, one-year returns continue to impress

Key Insights

• Given the large stake in the stock by institutions, Lakeland Financial's stock price might be vulnerable to their trading decisions
• A total of 9 investors have a majority stake in the company with 51% ownership
• Insiders have been selling lately

If you want to know who really controls Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are institutions with 83% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

Last week’s 7.2% gain means that institutional investors were on the positive end of the spectrum even as the company has shown strong longer-term trends. One-year return to shareholders is currently 1.2% and last week’s gain was the icing on the cake.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Lakeland Financial, beginning with the chart below.

Check out our latest analysis for Lakeland Financial

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Lakeland Financial?

Institutional investors commonly compare their own returns to the returns of a commonly followed index. So they generally do consider buying larger companies that are included in the relevant benchmark index.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Lakeland Financial. This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see Lakeland Financial's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Since institutional investors own more than half the issued stock, the board will likely have to pay attention to their preferences. Hedge funds don't have many shares in Lakeland Financial. The company's largest shareholder is BlackRock, Inc., with ownership of 15%. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 7.2% and 6.4% of the stock. In addition, we found that David Findlay, the CEO has 0.5% of the shares allocated to their name.

We did some more digging and found that 9 of the top shareholders account for roughly 51% of the register, implying that along with larger shareholders, there are a few smaller shareholders, thereby balancing out each others interests somewhat.

While it makes sense to study institutional ownership data for a company, it also makes sense to study analyst sentiments to know which way the wind is blowing. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Lakeland Financial

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. Management ultimately answers to the board. However, it is not uncommon for managers to be executive board members, especially if they are a founder or the CEO.

Most consider insider ownership a positive because it can indicate the board is well aligned with other shareholders. However, on some occasions too much power is concentrated within this group.

We can report that insiders do own shares in Lakeland Financial Corporation. This is a big company, so it is good to see this level of alignment. Insiders own US$48m worth of shares (at current prices). Most would say this shows alignment of interests between shareholders and the board. Still, it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 14% stake in Lakeland Financial. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Lakeland Financial better, we need to consider many other factors. For instance, we've identified 2 warning signs for Lakeland Financial (1 shouldn't be ignored) that you should be aware of.

If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its future.

NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.