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

Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the ten brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $37.40.

LNC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen raised their target price 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 raised their target price on Lincoln National from $28.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Lincoln National from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Lincoln National from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective 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.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lincoln National

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. M Holdings Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln National during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln National during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position 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 valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 530 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln National during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Lincoln National in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. 72.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lincoln National Stock Performance

Shares of LNC opened at $36.13 on Wednesday. Lincoln National has a 12 month low of $25.80 and a 12 month high of $39.85. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $35.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.72. 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 cap of $6.16 billion, a PE ratio of 1.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.76.

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

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.79%.

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.