Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the ten ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have issued a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $37.40.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $28.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on Lincoln National from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th.

Institutional Trading of Lincoln National

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Lincoln National during the fourth quarter worth about $76,951,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Lincoln National during the fourth quarter worth about $54,189,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in Lincoln National by 301.2% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,522,195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,269,000 after buying an additional 1,142,759 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in Lincoln National by 84.9% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,543,624 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,948,000 after buying an additional 708,584 shares during the period. Finally, LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in Lincoln National by 190.9% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 741,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $23,508,000 after buying an additional 486,478 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln National Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of LNC stock opened at $36.55 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $35.47 and a 200-day moving average of $33.64. 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 has a 12-month low of $25.80 and a 12-month high of $39.85. The company has a market capitalization of $6.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.76.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.04. Lincoln National had a net margin of 17.76% and a return on equity of 18.47%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Lincoln National will post 7.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.79%.

Lincoln National Company Profile

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.