Focus Partners Wealth Buys New Position in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

Focus Partners Wealth bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 14,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $445,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LNC. Ethic Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lincoln National by 18.4% in the 4th quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 10,739 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $341,000 after acquiring an additional 1,670 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in shares of Lincoln National by 158.7% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 247,328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,843,000 after acquiring an additional 151,731 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Lincoln National by 16.7% in the 4th quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,539 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $334,000 after acquiring an additional 1,507 shares during the period. Collar Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln National in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,777,000. Finally, Corton Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln National in the 4th quarter worth approximately $431,000. Institutional investors own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln National Stock Performance

Lincoln National stock opened at $33.94 on Wednesday. Lincoln National Co. has a 1 year low of $27.58 and a 1 year high of $39.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company has a market cap of $5.79 billion, a PE ratio of 1.85, a PEG ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.42. The company’s 50-day moving average is $33.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.09.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.06. Lincoln National had a return on equity of 18.47% and a net margin of 17.76%. The business had revenue of $4.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.41 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Lincoln National Co. will post 7.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.30%. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on LNC. UBS Group raised their price objective on Lincoln National from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Lincoln National from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Lincoln National from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Lincoln National from $36.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Lincoln National from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.82.

About Lincoln National

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.