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

Shares of Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the fifteen ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have assigned a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $46.25.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. National Bank Financial set a $45.00 price target on Lincoln National in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Lincoln National from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $41.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Lincoln National in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Lincoln National from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 4th.

Lincoln National Stock Down 3.1%

Shares of NYSE LNC opened at $34.03 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $40.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Lincoln National has a 12-month low of $27.58 and a 12-month high of $46.82. The company has a market cap of $6.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.30.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $4.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.85 billion. Lincoln National had a return on equity of 18.52% and a net margin of 6.46%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.91 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Lincoln National will post 7.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 10th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.3%. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.90%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lincoln National news, major shareholder National Life Insuranc Lincoln acquired 2,254,486 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $11.09 per share, for a total transaction of $25,002,249.74. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 9,784,322 shares in the company, valued at $108,508,130.98. This trade represents a 29.94% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sean Woodroffe sold 10,000 shares of Lincoln National stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.46, for a total value of $344,600.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 206,159 shares in the company, valued at $7,104,239.14. This represents a 4.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 16,569 shares of company stock valued at $627,484 in the last three months. 0.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lincoln National

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LNC. Bain Capital Prairie LLC acquired a new stake in Lincoln National in the fourth quarter valued at $835,360,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln National in the 2nd quarter worth about $87,362,000. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 58.7% in the 4th 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. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,903,720 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $802,717,000 after purchasing an additional 1,183,934 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Lincoln National by 25.3% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,730,727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $231,121,000 after purchasing an additional 1,157,599 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

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.