8-K

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

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FORM 8-K

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CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the

Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported) December 6, 2012

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Lakeland Financial Corporation

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

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Indiana	0-11487	35-1559596
(State or other jurisdiction	(Commission File Number)	(IRS Employer
Of incorporation)		Identification No.)

202 East Center Street, P.O. Box 1387, Warsaw, Indiana 46581-1387

(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)

(574) 267-6144

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Not Applicable

(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

[  ]  Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

[  ]  Solicitation material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

[  ]  Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR  240.14d-2(b)

[  ]  Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c)

Item 7.01.    Regulation FD Disclosure.

On December 6, 2012, the Board of Directors (the “Board”) of Lakeland Financial Corporation (the “Company”) declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.17 per share of Company common stock for the fourth quarter of 2012, payable on December 31, 2012, to shareholders of record as of December 18, 2012.

Item 9.01.   Financial Statements and Exhibits.

(d) Exhibits.  The following exhibits are filed herewith:

99.1 Press Release issued by Lakeland Financial Corporation on December 7, 2012.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

LAKELAND FINANCIAL CORPORATION

Dated:  December 7, 2012                                                                By:  /s/David M. Findlay

David M. Findlay

President and Chief Financial Officer

EX-99.1

Exhibit 99.1

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Contact:                      David M. Findlay

                                                                                                                                                                        President and

                                                                                                                                                                        Chief Financial Officer

                                                                                                                                                                        (574) 267-9197

                                                                                                                                                                        david.findlay@lakecitybank.com

Lake City Bank Parent

Announces Quarterly Dividend

Warsaw, Indiana (December 7 , 2012) – Lakeland Financial Corporation (Nasdaq Global Select/LKFN), parent company of Lake City Bank, today announced that the Board of Directors approved a quarterly cash dividend for the fourth quarter of 2012 of $0.17 per share, payable on December 31, 2012 to shareholders of record as of December 18, 2012.  This quarterly dividend is consistent with the Company’s practice of declaring a quarterly dividend and represents an acceleration of the normal quarterly dividend that would have been paid to shareholders in the first quarter of 2013.  The company reported that it made the decision to accelerate the fourth quarter dividend to shareholders in light of the potential increase in taxes on dividend income in 2013.  The quarterly dividend represents a 10% increase over the quarterly dividends paid in 2011.

Lakeland Financial Corporation is a $3.0 billion bank holding company headquartered in Warsaw, Indiana. Lake City Bank serves Indiana with 45 branches located in the following Indiana counties: Kosciusko, Elkhart, Allen, St. Joseph, DeKalb, Fulton, Hamilton, Huntington, LaGrange, Marshall, Noble, Pulaski and Whitley.

Lakeland Financial Corporation may be accessed on the home page of its subsidiary, Lake City Bank, at www.lakecitybank.com. The Company’s common stock is traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under “LKFN”.

This document contains, and future oral and written statements of the Company and its management may contain, forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 with respect to the financial condition, results of operations, plans, objectives, future performance and business of the Company. Forward-looking statements, which may be based upon beliefs, expectations and assumptions of the Company’s management and on information currently available to management, are generally identifiable by the use of words such as “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “plan,” “intend,” “estimate,” “may,” “will,” “would,” “could,” “should” or other similar expressions. Additionally, all statements in this document, including forward-looking statements, speak only as of the date they are made, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update any statement in light of new information or future events.  Additional information concerning the Company and its business, including factors that could materially affect the Company’s financial results, is included in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K.