Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) Price Target Raised to $38.00

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) had its price objective boosted by UBS Group from $32.00 to $38.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Lincoln National from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Lincoln National from $28.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays upped their target price on Lincoln National from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lincoln National has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.45.

Lincoln National Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LNC opened at $29.90 on Wednesday. Lincoln National has a 12 month low of $25.80 and a 12 month high of $39.85. The company has a market cap of $5.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 1.63, a P/E/G ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.55. The business’s 50 day moving average is $36.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.04. Lincoln National had a net margin of 17.76% and a return on equity of 18.47%. On average, equities analysts expect that Lincoln National will post 7.69 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.02%. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio is 9.79%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LNC. M Holdings Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Lincoln National during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln National in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Lincoln National in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Lincoln National during the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd grew its holdings in Lincoln National by 182.2% during the 4th quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 1,250 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 807 shares during the last quarter. 72.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Lincoln National

Lincoln National Corporation, through its subsidiaries, operates multiple insurance and retirement businesses in the United States. It operates in four segments: Life Insurance, Annuities, Group Protection, and Retirement Plan Services. The Life Insurance segment provides life insurance products, including term insurance, universal life insurance (UL), indexed universal life insurance, variable universal life insurance (VUL), linked-benefit UL and VUL products, and critical illness and long-term care riders.