Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have given a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $32.64.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on LNC. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Lincoln National from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Lincoln National in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $35.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $30.00 to $29.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th.

Lincoln National Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LNC opened at $31.27 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The company has a market capitalization of $5.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.28, a P/E/G ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.81. Lincoln National has a 12 month low of $20.85 and a 12 month high of $36.46. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $31.08 and a 200-day moving average of $30.54.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.65 billion. Lincoln National had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 17.13%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.02 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Lincoln National will post 5.74 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.76%. Lincoln National’s payout ratio is 24.62%.

Institutional Trading of Lincoln National

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 1,032.2% in the fourth quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 105,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,853,000 after acquiring an additional 96,434 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its position in Lincoln National by 33.0% during the 1st quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 387,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,382,000 after purchasing an additional 96,200 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Lincoln National by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,854,837 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $697,825,000 after purchasing an additional 166,167 shares during the last quarter. Crestline Management LP boosted its position in Lincoln National by 75.0% in the fourth quarter. Crestline Management LP now owns 105,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,832,000 after buying an additional 45,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ellis Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln National during the second quarter worth $1,095,000. 72.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.