Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold” Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Thursday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on LNC. Bank of America dropped their price target 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. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Lincoln National in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $34.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $30.00 to $29.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.00.

Lincoln National Stock Performance

Lincoln National stock traded down $0.09 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $35.17. 520,141 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,655,788. Lincoln National has a fifty-two week low of $21.59 and a fifty-two week high of $36.98. The stock has a market cap of $5.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.19, a P/E/G ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.79. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $4.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.61 billion. Lincoln National had a net margin of 2.51% and a return on equity of 18.15%. Lincoln National’s quarterly revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.23 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Lincoln National will post 5.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.12%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio is currently 128.57%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lincoln National

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Lincoln National by 249.4% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 873 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln National during the 1st quarter valued at $207,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Lincoln National in the first quarter worth $505,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new stake in Lincoln National in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 1.4% during the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 148,486 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,741,000 after purchasing an additional 2,102 shares during the period. 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.