Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) Given New $40.00 Price Target at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) had its price objective upped by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $37.00 to $40.00 in a research note published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

LNC has been the topic of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Lincoln National from $29.00 to $28.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays boosted their target price on Lincoln National from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Lincoln National from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Lincoln National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $34.40.

Lincoln National Stock Performance

NYSE:LNC opened at $38.94 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27. Lincoln National has a 1 year low of $25.60 and a 1 year high of $39.04. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $33.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $32.61. The company has a market cap of $6.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.12, a PEG ratio of 0.28 and a beta of 1.79.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.04. Lincoln National had a return on equity of 18.47% and a net margin of 17.76%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Lincoln National will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lincoln National

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,309,453 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $104,281,000 after buying an additional 223,129 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 19.5% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 64,658 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,050,000 after buying an additional 10,560 shares during the period. Range Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln National during the 4th quarter worth $1,075,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,373,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $106,322,000 after purchasing an additional 152,622 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln National during the 4th quarter worth $1,094,000. 72.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lincoln National Company 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.