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

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) had its price objective reduced by Morgan Stanley from $42.00 to $32.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays boosted their target price on Lincoln National from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Lincoln National from $28.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Lincoln National from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.91.

Lincoln National Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of Lincoln National stock opened at $29.52 on Thursday. Lincoln National has a twelve month low of $25.80 and a twelve month high of $39.85. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $35.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $34.08. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $5.03 billion, a PE ratio of 1.61, a P/E/G ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.56.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 18.47% and a net margin of 17.76%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Lincoln National will post 7.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.79%.

Institutional Trading of Lincoln National

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. M Holdings Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln National during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new position in Lincoln National during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Lincoln National in the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Lincoln National during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Lincoln National during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.