Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Boosts Stock Position in Lincoln National Corporation $LNC

Key Points

• Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its stake in Lincoln National Corporation by 37.5%, now owning 27,889 shares valued at approximately $1,001,000 after acquiring 7,603 additional shares.
• Lincoln National recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share, with a dividend yield of 4.4%, payable on November 3rd to investors of record as of October 10th.
• The company reported $2.36 earnings per share for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' estimates by $0.45, despite also reporting revenue that fell short of expectations.

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its stake in Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC - Free Report) by 37.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 27,889 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 7,603 shares during the quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings in Lincoln National were worth $1,001,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of LNC. Hollencrest Capital Management increased its stake in Lincoln National by 383.2% during the first quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 749 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 594 shares during the period. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln National during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln National during the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. Rossby Financial LCC purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln National during the first quarter worth approximately $66,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Lincoln National by 40.5% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,957 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $106,000 after purchasing an additional 853 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.81% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Lincoln National to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a "positive" rating on shares of Lincoln National in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Lincoln National from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lincoln National presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $39.70.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP John Christopher Kennedy sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.29, for a total value of $196,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 123,815 shares in the company, valued at $4,864,691.35. This trade represents a 3.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sean Woodroffe sold 43,622 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.78, for a total value of $1,429,929.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 154,102 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,051,463.56. This represents a 22.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 58,697 shares of company stock worth $1,959,862 over the last 90 days. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Lincoln National Stock Performance

Shares of LNC stock traded up $1.2640 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $41.9140. The stock had a trading volume of 1,868,723 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,244,095. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.95 billion, a PE ratio of 7.31, a PEG ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.42. Lincoln National Corporation has a twelve month low of $27.58 and a twelve month high of $42.36. The stock's 50 day moving average is $35.99 and its 200 day moving average is $34.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.26 and a quick ratio of 0.26.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.45. Lincoln National had a return on equity of 19.14% and a net margin of 6.34%.The business had revenue of $4.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.65 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.87 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Lincoln National Corporation will post 7.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.3%. Lincoln National's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.41%.

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.