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

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Monday.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on LNC. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an in-line rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, TheStreet cut shares of Lincoln National from a c rating to a d+ rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $28.45.

Lincoln National Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LNC opened at $26.85 on Monday. Lincoln National has a twelve month low of $18.50 and a twelve month high of $32.43. The firm has a market cap of $4.57 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.38, a PEG ratio of 0.18 and a beta of 1.81. The company has a 50 day moving average of $28.27 and a 200 day moving average of $26.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.13. Lincoln National had a negative net margin of 6.46% and a positive return on equity of 20.81%. The business had revenue of $1.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.44 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Lincoln National will post 6.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.70%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. Lincoln National’s payout ratio is currently -36.07%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Owen Ryan purchased 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $25.90 per share, for a total transaction of $259,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $259,000. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.75% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lincoln National

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its position in shares of Lincoln National by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 6,980 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $456,000 after buying an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Lincoln National by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 4,626 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $303,000 after buying an additional 307 shares in the last quarter. Security Financial Services INC. raised its position in shares of Lincoln National by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Security Financial Services INC. now owns 8,803 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $237,000 after buying an additional 385 shares in the last quarter. Vident Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Lincoln National by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Vident Investment Advisory LLC now owns 7,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $230,000 after purchasing an additional 389 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Great West Life Assurance Co. Can grew its holdings in Lincoln National by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 162,771 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,192,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. 72.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.