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

Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the ten research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $37.10.

LNC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $28.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price 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.

Lincoln National Stock Performance

LNC stock opened at $37.55 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.04, a PEG ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.79. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.93. Lincoln National has a one year low of $25.60 and a one year high of $39.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Lincoln National will post 7.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.79%. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.79%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LNC. M Holdings Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln National during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new stake in Lincoln National in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Lincoln National by 535.5% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,074 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 905 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Lincoln National by 95.3% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,086 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 530 shares during the period. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Lincoln National in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

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.