Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) Sets New 52-Week High After Analyst Upgrade

Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday after Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on the stock from $37.00 to $40.00. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has a market perform rating on the stock. Lincoln National traded as high as $39.04 and last traded at $38.94, with a volume of 1720419 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $38.38.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Lincoln National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $29.00 to $28.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $34.40.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. M Holdings Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln National during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 535.5% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,074 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 905 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 95.3% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,086 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 530 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln National during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln National during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln National Trading Up 1.5 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The company’s fifty day moving average is $33.14 and its 200-day moving average is $32.61. The stock has a market cap of $6.63 billion, a PE ratio of 2.12, a PEG ratio of 0.28 and a beta of 1.79.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last issued its earnings results 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%. On average, analysts predict that Lincoln National Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.