Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the ten research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $37.40.

LNC has been the topic of several recent research reports. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of 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 shares of Lincoln National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $28.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI upped 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.

Lincoln National Stock Up 2.7 %

NYSE:LNC opened at $39.00 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $6.64 billion, a PE ratio of 2.12, a P/E/G ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.79. Lincoln National has a twelve month low of $25.60 and a twelve 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’s 50 day moving average is $34.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.23.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last released 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 net margin of 17.76% and a return on equity of 18.47%. Analysts anticipate that Lincoln National will post 7.69 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders 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 yield of 4.62%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.79%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lincoln National

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. M Holdings Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Lincoln National during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new position in Lincoln National during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in 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 acquiring an additional 905 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in Lincoln National by 95.3% during the third 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 during the period. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Lincoln National during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. 72.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.