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

Shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the ten brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have issued a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $33.40.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on LNC. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $37.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays decreased their target price on Lincoln National from $38.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Lincoln National from $29.00 to $28.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Lincoln National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th.

Lincoln National Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of LNC opened at $33.88 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The business has a fifty day moving average of $32.98 and a 200 day moving average of $32.33. The company has a market cap of $5.77 billion, a PE ratio of 24.20, a P/E/G ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 1.78. Lincoln National has a 52-week low of $25.09 and a 52-week high of $36.98.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $4.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.61 billion. Lincoln National had a net margin of 2.51% and a return on equity of 18.15%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.23 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Lincoln National will post 6.97 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio is currently 128.57%.

Insider Transactions at Lincoln National

In related news, EVP John Christopher Kennedy sold 2,863 shares of Lincoln National stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.00, for a total value of $103,068.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 99,644 shares in the company, valued at $3,587,184. The trade was a 2.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lincoln National

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LNC. Hedeker Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Lincoln National by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Hedeker Wealth LLC now owns 83,464 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,647,000 after acquiring an additional 2,062 shares in the last quarter. HFG Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Lincoln National in the 4th quarter valued at $265,000. DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its stake in Lincoln National by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 27,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $866,000 after purchasing an additional 2,170 shares during the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln National during the fourth quarter worth $51,000. Finally, Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Lincoln National by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 37,502 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,189,000 after buying an additional 1,352 shares during the last quarter. 72.81% of the stock is currently 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.