Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest during the month of August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,520,000 shares, a decline of 11.3% from the July 31st total of 3,970,000 shares. Currently, 2.1% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,450,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.4 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LNC. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,854,837 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $697,825,000 after purchasing an additional 166,167 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new stake in Lincoln National during the second quarter worth about $142,148,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 59.2% during the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,086,324 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $95,985,000 after buying an additional 1,147,896 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 14.1% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,828,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $87,970,000 after acquiring an additional 348,601 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,249,725 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $69,966,000 after acquiring an additional 31,235 shares in the last quarter. 72.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Lincoln National from $30.00 to $29.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Lincoln National from $28.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Lincoln National from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lincoln National has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.40.

Lincoln National Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of LNC stock opened at $32.10 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $5.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.84. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $31.46 and a 200-day moving average of $30.17. Lincoln National has a 52-week low of $20.85 and a 52-week high of $36.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.07. Lincoln National had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 17.13%. The firm had revenue of $5.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.02 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Lincoln National will post 5.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.62%.

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.