Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) Stock Price

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) had its price objective increased by Morgan Stanley from $39.00 to $42.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on LNC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lincoln National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. 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 report on Friday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lincoln National currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.40.

Lincoln National Stock Up 2.7 %

Shares of LNC opened at $39.00 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $34.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.23. Lincoln National has a 52 week low of $25.60 and a 52 week high of $39.85. The firm has a market cap of $6.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 2.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.79. 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 announced its earnings results 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 net margin of 17.76% and a return on equity of 18.47%. On average, analysts forecast that Lincoln National will post 7.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Lincoln National’s payout ratio is 9.79%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lincoln National

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LNC. Norges Bank bought a new position in Lincoln National in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $76,951,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Lincoln National in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $54,189,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 301.2% during the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,522,195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,269,000 after acquiring an additional 1,142,759 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 84.9% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,543,624 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,948,000 after acquiring an additional 708,584 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 190.9% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 741,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $23,508,000 after acquiring an additional 486,478 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

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.