Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) Receives $33.25 Average Price Target from Analysts

Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have given a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $33.25.

LNC has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Lincoln National from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Lincoln National from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. StockNews.com raised Lincoln National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price 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, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th.

Lincoln National Price Performance

Shares of LNC stock opened at $32.37 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $33.67 and its 200-day moving average is $32.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27. Lincoln National has a 52 week low of $25.09 and a 52 week high of $36.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.51 billion, a PE ratio of 23.12, a PEG ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.78.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.42. Lincoln National had a net margin of 2.51% and a return on equity of 18.15%. The firm had revenue of $4.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.61 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.23 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Lincoln National will post 7.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.56%. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 128.57%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP John Christopher Kennedy sold 2,863 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.00, for a total transaction of $103,068.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 99,644 shares in the company, valued at $3,587,184. This trade represents a 2.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lincoln National

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LNC. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 535.5% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,074 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 905 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 95.3% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,086 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 530 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln National in the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln National in the third quarter worth $48,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Lincoln National by 67.1% during the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 821 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.