Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) Price Target Raised to $43.00

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) had its price target upped by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $42.00 to $43.00 in a research note released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a market perform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Cfra Research raised shares of Lincoln National to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of Lincoln National in a research note on Tuesday. National Bankshares set a $53.00 target price on shares of Lincoln National in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Lincoln National to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $43.09.

Lincoln National Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LNC opened at $38.10 on Thursday. Lincoln National has a fifty-two week low of $27.58 and a fifty-two week high of $43.66. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $35.88. The company has a market capitalization of $7.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.65, a P/E/G ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.26.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by $0.45. Lincoln National had a net margin of 6.34% and a return on equity of 19.14%. The business had revenue of $4.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.87 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Lincoln National will post 7.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.7%. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.41%.

Insider Transactions at Lincoln National

In related news, EVP John Christopher Kennedy sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.29, for a total value of $196,450.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 123,815 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,864,691.35. This trade represents a 3.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lincoln National

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Lincoln National by 0.7% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,199,526 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $214,504,000 after purchasing an additional 40,676 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Lincoln National by 1.3% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,916,661 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $170,116,000 after purchasing an additional 61,873 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Lincoln National by 20.0% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,645,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $160,732,000 after purchasing an additional 774,721 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Lincoln National by 7.2% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,084,433 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $110,753,000 after purchasing an additional 208,114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management boosted its holdings in Lincoln National by 16.9% in the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,736,180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $94,672,000 after purchasing an additional 394,584 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

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.