Fifth Third Bancorp Purchases 76,942 Shares of Lincoln National Corporation $LNC

Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in shares of Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC) by 291.9% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 103,301 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 76,942 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Lincoln National were worth $3,667,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bain Capital Prairie LLC purchased a new stake in Lincoln National during the 4th quarter valued at $835,360,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,233,327 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $277,574,000 after purchasing an additional 502,600 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 0.7% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,199,526 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $214,504,000 after purchasing an additional 40,676 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 58.7% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,681,158 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $163,922,000 after purchasing an additional 1,361,835 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Lincoln National by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,959,195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $131,801,000 after buying an additional 14,842 shares during the last quarter. 72.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lincoln National Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of LNC stock opened at $42.26 on Monday. Lincoln National Corporation has a 12 month low of $32.18 and a 12 month high of $46.82. The stock has a market cap of $8.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.58.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.08. Lincoln National had a net margin of 9.17% and a return on equity of 18.07%. The business had revenue of $4.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.60 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Lincoln National Corporation will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 10th. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.88%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lincoln National news, EVP Craigt T. Beazer sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.45, for a total transaction of $1,033,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 103,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,579,561.70. The trade was a 22.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $42.00 to $40.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $43.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Lincoln National from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Lincoln National from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Lincoln National has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.79.

Lincoln National Company Profile

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.