Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the sixteen analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have issued a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $43.00.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on LNC. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $44.00 to $42.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $54.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 13th. National Bank Financial set a $40.00 target price on shares of Lincoln National in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lincoln National

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bain Capital Prairie LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln National in the fourth quarter valued at about $835,360,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln National in the fourth quarter valued at about $101,114,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 24.4% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,755,506 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $275,304,000 after buying an additional 1,522,179 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 58.7% in 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 buying an additional 1,361,835 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 6.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,903,720 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $802,717,000 after buying an additional 1,183,934 shares during the period. 72.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lincoln National Trading Up 1.0%

NYSE LNC opened at $36.58 on Friday. Lincoln National has a 1-year low of $31.69 and a 1-year high of $46.82. 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 market capitalization of $6.99 billion, a PE ratio of 4.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.17. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $35.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.60.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $4.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.60 earnings per share. Lincoln National’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lincoln National will post 7.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 10th. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.88%.

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.