EntryPoint Capital LLC Makes New $238,000 Investment in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 7,497 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $238,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Lincoln National during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $54,189,000. LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 190.9% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 741,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $23,508,000 after purchasing an additional 486,478 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln National in the 4th quarter valued at $8,155,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Lincoln National by 7.2% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,309,453 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $104,281,000 after buying an additional 223,129 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its position in Lincoln National by 9.7% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,355,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $74,206,000 after buying an additional 207,800 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on LNC. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on 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 increased their target price on Lincoln National from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.40.

Lincoln National Stock Performance

NYSE:LNC opened at $35.72 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $6.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 1.94, a P/E/G ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.76. Lincoln National Co. has a twelve month low of $25.80 and a twelve month high of $39.85. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $36.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.04. Lincoln National had a net margin of 17.76% and a return on equity of 18.47%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Lincoln National Co. will post 7.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.04%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.79%.

Lincoln National 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.