Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) Receives Average Recommendation of “Reduce” from Brokerages

Shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) have been given an average recommendation of “Reduce” by the eleven analysts that are currently 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 one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $28.45.

A number of research analysts recently commented on LNC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Lincoln National from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com raised Lincoln National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Lincoln National from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th.

Insider Transactions at Lincoln National

In other news, Director Owen Ryan bought 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $25.90 per share, for a total transaction of $259,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $259,000. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lincoln National

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Security Financial Services INC. raised its stake in Lincoln National by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Security Financial Services INC. now owns 8,803 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $237,000 after buying an additional 385 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in Lincoln National by 32.6% in the first quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,667 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust raised its stake in Lincoln National by 3.9% in the third quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 12,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $310,000 after buying an additional 468 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in Lincoln National by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 4,238 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $114,000 after buying an additional 532 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Lincoln National by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 91,833 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,477,000 after buying an additional 535 shares in the last quarter. 72.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lincoln National Trading Down 0.5 %

Lincoln National stock opened at $27.81 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.73 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.57, a PEG ratio of 0.18 and a beta of 1.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.26. Lincoln National has a fifty-two week low of $18.50 and a fifty-two week high of $32.43. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $28.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.45.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $1.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.44 billion. Lincoln National had a positive return on equity of 20.81% and a negative net margin of 6.46%. Equities research analysts forecast that Lincoln National will post 6.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.47%. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio is currently -36.07%.

Lincoln National Company Profile

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.