Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) Rating Increased to Overweight at Barclays

Barclays upgraded shares of Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a report issued on Monday morning, Marketbeat reports. Barclays currently has $45.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their previous target price of $42.00.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Lincoln National from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. National Bank Financial set a $40.00 price target on shares of Lincoln National in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $41.00 to $37.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $43.00 to $38.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.21.

Lincoln National Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of LNC stock opened at $38.74 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Lincoln National has a 12-month low of $32.18 and a 12-month high of $46.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.17. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $36.12 and its 200 day moving average is $37.91.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $4.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.93 billion. Lincoln National had a net margin of 9.17% and a return on equity of 18.07%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.60 EPS. Research analysts expect that Lincoln National will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 10th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.6%. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.88%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lincoln National news, EVP Craigt T. Beazer sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.45, for a total value of $1,033,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 103,906 shares in the company, valued at $3,579,561.70. This represents a 22.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Eastern Bank increased its stake in Lincoln National by 45.7% in the 2nd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 1,865 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 585 shares in the last quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln National in the first quarter valued at about $386,000. Concorde Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Lincoln National in the first quarter worth about $293,000. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 15.8% in the first quarter. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,792 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $206,000 after acquiring an additional 792 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of Lincoln National by 4.7% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,428,845 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $50,724,000 after purchasing an additional 64,403 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

About Lincoln National

Lincoln National Corporation, doing business as Lincoln Financial Group, is a diversified financial services holding company focused on providing retirement, insurance, and wealth management solutions in the United States and select international markets. Headquartered in Radnor, Pennsylvania, the company operates through several business segments, including Retirement Plan Services, Life Insurance, and Group Protection. Its offerings are designed to help individuals, families, and institutions plan and prepare for their financial futures.

The Retirement Plan Services segment delivers recordkeeping, administrative services, and investment management for defined contribution and defined benefit plans.