Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the ten research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $33.50.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on LNC. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $38.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Lincoln National from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of Lincoln National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Lincoln National from $37.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd.

Lincoln National Stock Down 1.2 %

NYSE LNC opened at $31.40 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $33.53 and a 200-day moving average of $32.22. The company has a market cap of $5.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.43, a PEG ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Lincoln National has a 1-year low of $25.09 and a 1-year high of $36.98.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $4.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.61 billion. Lincoln National had a return on equity of 18.15% and a net margin of 2.51%. Lincoln National’s revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.23 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Lincoln National will post 7.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.73%. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 128.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lincoln National news, EVP John Christopher Kennedy sold 2,863 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.00, for a total value of $103,068.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 99,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,587,184. This represents a 2.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lincoln National

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Lincoln National by 535.5% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,074 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 905 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Lincoln National by 95.3% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,086 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 530 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank bought a new position in Lincoln National in the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Lincoln National during the 3rd quarter valued at about $48,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Lincoln National by 67.1% during the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 821 shares in the last quarter. 72.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.