Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) Research Coverage Started at Barclays

Barclays began coverage on shares of Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued an equal weight rating and a $35.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on LNC. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $30.00 to $29.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 19th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Lincoln National from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Lincoln National from $28.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Lincoln National currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $32.64.

Lincoln National Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LNC opened at $29.45 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $31.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.25. Lincoln National has a 52-week low of $20.85 and a 52-week high of $36.46. The company has a market cap of $5.01 billion, a PE ratio of 4.03, a PEG ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.84.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.07. Lincoln National had a return on equity of 17.13% and a net margin of 12.24%. The firm had revenue of $5.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.65 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.02 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Lincoln National will post 5.74 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.11%. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.62%.

Institutional Trading of Lincoln National

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Lincoln National by 20.3% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 699,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,869,000 after acquiring an additional 117,983 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank raised its holdings in Lincoln National by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 76,960 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,076,000 after buying an additional 635 shares during the period. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Lincoln National in the fourth quarter worth $267,000. Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new position in Lincoln National during the fourth quarter worth $205,000. Finally, Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC increased its position in Lincoln National by 22.5% during the fourth quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 19,560 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $528,000 after acquiring an additional 3,590 shares during the last quarter. 72.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.