LAKELAND FINANCIAL CORP (LKFN)
Sector: Financials
2026 Annual Meeting Analysis
LAKELAND FINANCIAL CORP · Meeting: April 14, 2026
Directors FOR
0
Directors AGAINST
13
Say on Pay
FOR
Auditor
FOR
Director Elections
ELECTION OF DIRECTORS
Against Analysis
LKFN's 3-year price return of -0.7% trails the QABA community bank index by 40.1 percentage points, exceeding the 30-point trigger for directors with meaningful tenure; the 5-year gap (-10.2% vs QABA over five years) does not provide a mitigating offset, so the AGAINST vote stands unless this director joined within the past 24 months (tenure data not available in the filing).
LKFN's 3-year price return of -0.7% trails the QABA community bank index by 40.1 percentage points, exceeding the 30-point trigger; absent confirmation that this director joined within the past 24 months, the policy requires a vote against.
LKFN's 3-year price return of -0.7% trails the QABA community bank index by 40.1 percentage points, exceeding the 30-point trigger; absent confirmation that this director joined within the past 24 months, the policy requires a vote against.
LKFN's 3-year price return of -0.7% trails the QABA community bank index by 40.1 percentage points, exceeding the 30-point trigger; absent confirmation that this director joined within the past 24 months, the policy requires a vote against.
LKFN's 3-year price return of -0.7% trails the QABA community bank index by 40.1 percentage points, exceeding the 30-point trigger; absent confirmation that this director joined within the past 24 months, the policy requires a vote against.
LKFN's 3-year price return of -0.7% trails the QABA community bank index by 40.1 percentage points, exceeding the 30-point trigger; absent confirmation that this director joined within the past 24 months, the policy requires a vote against.
LKFN's 3-year price return of -0.7% trails the QABA community bank index by 40.1 percentage points, exceeding the 30-point trigger; absent confirmation that this director joined within the past 24 months, the policy requires a vote against.
LKFN's 3-year price return of -0.7% trails the QABA community bank index by 40.1 percentage points, exceeding the 30-point trigger; absent confirmation that this director joined within the past 24 months, the policy requires a vote against.
LKFN's 3-year price return of -0.7% trails the QABA community bank index by 40.1 percentage points, exceeding the 30-point trigger; absent confirmation that this director joined within the past 24 months, the policy requires a vote against.
LKFN's 3-year price return of -0.7% trails the QABA community bank index by 40.1 percentage points, exceeding the 30-point trigger; absent confirmation that this director joined within the past 24 months, the policy requires a vote against.
LKFN's 3-year price return of -0.7% trails the QABA community bank index by 40.1 percentage points, exceeding the 30-point trigger; absent confirmation that this director joined within the past 24 months, the policy requires a vote against.
LKFN's 3-year price return of -0.7% trails the QABA community bank index by 40.1 percentage points, exceeding the 30-point trigger; absent confirmation that this director joined within the past 24 months, the policy requires a vote against.
LKFN's 3-year price return of -0.7% trails the QABA community bank index by 40.1 percentage points, exceeding the 30-point trigger; absent confirmation that this director joined within the past 24 months, the policy requires a vote against.
For Analysis
All 13 director nominees are recommended AGAINST. LKFN's stock has delivered a -0.7% return over the past three years while the QABA community bank index — the appropriate benchmark for a regional bank of this size — returned 39.4%, a gap of 40.1 percentage points. This exceeds the 30-point threshold that triggers AGAINST votes for directors with meaningful tenure during that period. The five-year picture (LKFN at -10.2%) does not provide a mitigating track record. The proxy filing does not provide individual director tenure data, so the 24-month new-director exemption cannot be applied individually; shareholders who have access to tenure information should consider exempting any director confirmed to have joined within the last 24 months.
Say on Pay
✓ FORCEO
N/A
Total Comp
N/A
Prior Support
N/A
The proxy filing provided in this analysis does not include the detailed compensation tables or CEO pay figures needed to apply the benchmark and pay-mix tests under the policy. In the absence of that data, the default vote is FOR. Shareholders who have access to the full proxy statement should review whether total CEO compensation exceeds benchmarks for a community bank CEO at LKFN's roughly $1.5 billion market cap, and whether at least half of executive pay is tied to measurable performance goals rather than fixed salary.
Auditor Ratification
✓ FORAuditor
Crowe LLP
Tenure
N/A
Audit Fees
N/A
Non-Audit Fees
N/A
The proxy filing does not provide auditor fee data or tenure length, so neither the non-audit fee ratio trigger nor the tenure trigger can be applied; per policy, when the required data is absent the default is to vote FOR and note the information gap as a minor negative factor. Crowe LLP is a large national accounting firm that is appropriate for a company of LKFN's size and complexity.
Overall Assessment
The 2026 LKFN annual meeting ballot contains director elections, a say-on-pay vote, and auditor ratification. The single most important issue on this ballot is sustained stock underperformance: LKFN's shares have lagged the QABA community bank index by over 40 percentage points over the past three years, triggering AGAINST votes on all 13 director nominees under the policy's TSR accountability framework.