LSV Asset Management Decreases Stake in Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC)

Key Points

• LSV Asset Management reduced its stake in Lincoln National Corporation by 4.4%, selling 108,800 shares during the first quarter, resulting in ownership of approximately 2.34 million shares worth $84 million.
• Several brokerages have upgraded their ratings on Lincoln National, with Morgan Stanley raising the target price from $32.00 to $38.00 and Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increasing theirs from $39.00 to $40.00.
• Lincoln National recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share, reflecting a dividend yield of 4.9% and a payout ratio of 25.57%.

LSV Asset Management lowered its position in shares of Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC - Free Report) by 4.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,341,596 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 108,800 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management owned about 1.37% of Lincoln National worth $84,087,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Blueshift Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln National during the first quarter valued at $449,000. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 11.6% during the first quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 53,526 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,922,000 after buying an additional 5,569 shares during the period. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft grew its stake in Lincoln National by 4.7% in the first quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 7,329 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $261,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares during the last quarter. Algebris UK Ltd grew its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 36.6% during the first quarter. Algebris UK Ltd now owns 954,824 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $31,742,000 after acquiring an additional 256,032 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP grew its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 47.1% during the first quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 45,902 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,648,000 after acquiring an additional 14,689 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.81% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Lincoln National

In other news, EVP Brian Kroll sold 10,075 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.10, for a total transaction of $333,482.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 48,743 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,613,393.30. This trade represents a 17.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sean Woodroffe sold 43,622 shares of Lincoln National stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.78, for a total value of $1,429,929.16. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 154,102 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,051,463.56. This trade represents a 22.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.51% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on LNC. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Lincoln National from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Lincoln National from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Lincoln National from $38.00 to $36.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Lincoln National from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a "positive" rating on shares of Lincoln National in a report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $39.22.

Lincoln National Price Performance

NYSE LNC traded down $0.60 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $38.84. The stock had a trading volume of 185,758 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,971,880. The firm's 50 day moving average is $34.32 and its 200 day moving average is $34.40. Lincoln National Corporation has a twelve month low of $27.58 and a twelve month high of $39.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.26 and a quick ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.77, a PEG ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.42.

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

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. Lincoln National's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.