Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) Receives $37.40 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the ten research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have assigned a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $37.40.

LNC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Lincoln National from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Lincoln National from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Lincoln National from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Lincoln National from $28.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target 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.

Institutional Trading of Lincoln National

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. M Holdings Securities Inc. bought a new position in Lincoln National in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new position in shares of Lincoln National in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 530 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Lincoln National in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Lincoln National in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. 72.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lincoln National Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of LNC opened at $37.68 on Wednesday. Lincoln National has a 12-month low of $25.80 and a 12-month high of $39.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $6.42 billion, a PE ratio of 2.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.76. The business’s 50 day moving average is $36.07 and its 200 day moving average is $33.85.

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

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.78%. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.79%.

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.