Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the sixteen research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $43.00.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on LNC. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $39.00 target price on shares of Lincoln National in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Lincoln National from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $43.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $44.00 to $42.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $43.00 to $38.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 9th.

Lincoln National Price Performance

Lincoln National stock opened at $38.00 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $7.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.41, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.17. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $35.79 and its 200 day moving average is $38.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Lincoln National has a 52-week low of $31.69 and a 52-week high of $46.82.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $4.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.93 billion. Lincoln National had a net margin of 9.17% and a return on equity of 18.07%. Lincoln National’s revenue was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.60 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Lincoln National will post 7.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 10th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.7%. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln National

In other news, EVP Craigt T. Beazer sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.45, for a total value of $1,033,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 103,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,579,561.70. This represents a 22.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LNC. Bain Capital Prairie LLC purchased a new position in Lincoln National in the 4th quarter worth about $835,360,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Lincoln National in the 4th quarter worth about $101,114,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Lincoln National by 24.4% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,755,506 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $275,304,000 after buying an additional 1,522,179 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in 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 worth $163,922,000 after buying an additional 1,361,835 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in 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 worth $802,717,000 after buying an additional 1,183,934 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.