Lecap Asset Management Ltd. Buys Shares of 27,530 Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

Lecap Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 27,530 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $873,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of LNC. Hedeker Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Lincoln National by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Hedeker Wealth LLC now owns 83,464 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,647,000 after buying an additional 2,062 shares during the period. HFG Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln National during the 4th quarter worth approximately $265,000. DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its holdings in Lincoln National by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 27,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $866,000 after purchasing an additional 2,170 shares during the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Lincoln National in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Finally, Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Lincoln National by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 37,502 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,189,000 after purchasing an additional 1,352 shares during the period. 72.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lincoln National Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LNC opened at $37.01 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $32.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $32.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.30 billion, a PE ratio of 26.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 1.79. Lincoln National Co. has a fifty-two week low of $25.09 and a fifty-two week high of $37.24.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.04. Lincoln National had a net margin of 2.51% and a return on equity of 18.15%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Lincoln National Co. will post 6.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Lincoln National’s payout ratio is 128.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on LNC shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Lincoln National from $29.00 to $28.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com raised shares of Lincoln National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on Lincoln National from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.60.

Lincoln National 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.