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

Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have given a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $33.00.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on LNC. StockNews.com raised shares of Lincoln National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Lincoln National in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $34.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $37.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th.

Lincoln National Stock Down 1.0 %

NYSE LNC opened at $35.01 on Thursday. 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 $23.23 and a 1-year high of $36.98. The company has a 50 day moving average of $32.47 and a 200-day moving average of $31.70. The company has a market cap of $5.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.00, a PEG ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 1.79.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $4.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.61 billion. Lincoln National had a net margin of 2.51% and a return on equity of 18.15%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.23 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Lincoln National will post 6.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.14%. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio is 128.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP John Christopher Kennedy sold 2,863 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $3,587,184. The trade was a 2.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lincoln National

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LNC. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Lincoln National by 249.4% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 873 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Lincoln National in the first quarter valued at $505,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its holdings in Lincoln National by 3.3% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 202,944 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,480,000 after buying an additional 6,455 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Lincoln National by 33.0% in the first quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 387,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,382,000 after buying an additional 96,200 shares during the period. Finally, Trust Investment Advisors lifted its holdings in Lincoln National by 36.7% in the first quarter. Trust Investment Advisors now owns 38,913 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,242,000 after buying an additional 10,453 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

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.