Summit Securities Group LLC Purchases Shares of 18,000 Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 18,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $571,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lincoln National by 7.2% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,309,453 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $104,281,000 after acquiring an additional 223,129 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 19.5% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 64,658 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,050,000 after buying an additional 10,560 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Lincoln National in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,050,000. Amundi grew its position in Lincoln National by 92.0% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 119,294 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,747,000 after acquiring an additional 57,152 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Range Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln National during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,075,000. Institutional investors own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln National Stock Down 2.9 %

NYSE:LNC opened at $35.72 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.97. The firm has a market cap of $6.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 1.94, a P/E/G ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.76. Lincoln National Co. has a fifty-two week low of $25.80 and a fifty-two week high of $39.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.04. Lincoln National had a return on equity of 18.47% and a net margin of 17.76%. Analysts predict that Lincoln National Co. will post 7.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.04%. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on LNC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Lincoln National from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $28.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lincoln National has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.40.

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.