UPDATE: FIG Partners Reiterates Outperform Rating, Lowers PT on Lakeland Financial Corporation

In a report published Monday, FIG Partners reiterated its Outperform rating on Lakeland Financial Corporation

, but slightly lowered its price target from $30.00 to $29.00. FIG Partners noted, “Lakeland Financial reported 4Q12 EPS of $0.52 vs. $0.57 in 3Q12. On a core basis the results were also $0.52 per share and compared to our estimate and the consensus of $0.56 per share. The shortfall was driven by lower net interest income, as the margin was down 20 bps, and a higher provision ($1.25 million vs. $0.25 million estimate). The margin compression was primarily driven by a sharp drop in yields on the securities portfolio as prepayment speeds were elevated (down ~ 100 bps to 1.60%). Loan yields were also down ~ 14 bps to 4.52%. Going forward while we expect some added compression on asset yields LKFN does still have some levers to pull on the funding side. Accordingly, we think they can keep the margin around the 3.00% area for the next couple of quarters.” Lakeland Financial Corporation closed on Friday at $24.80.