Sciencast Management LP Decreases Stake in Lincoln National Corporation $LNC

Key Points

• Sciencast Management LP has reduced its stake in Lincoln National Corporation by 68.3%, selling 48,617 shares and now holding 22,517 shares valued at approximately $809,000.
• Lincoln National recently reported earnings of $2.36 per share for the quarter, surpassing estimates of $1.91 but noted revenue of $4.04 billion, which fell short of expectations.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 4.3%, with a payout ratio of 31.41%.

Sciencast Management LP decreased its position in shares of Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC - Free Report) by 68.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,517 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 48,617 shares during the period. Sciencast Management LP's holdings in Lincoln National were worth $809,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of LNC. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 9,236 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $293,000 after purchasing an additional 513 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,539 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $334,000 after purchasing an additional 1,507 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 158.7% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 247,328 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $7,843,000 after purchasing an additional 151,731 shares during the last quarter. Ethic Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 18.4% in the fourth quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 10,739 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $341,000 after purchasing an additional 1,670 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth bought a new position in shares of Lincoln National in the fourth quarter worth about $445,000. Institutional investors own 72.81% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on LNC. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Lincoln National to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a "positive" rating on shares of Lincoln National in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Lincoln National from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. National Bankshares set a $41.00 price objective on shares of Lincoln National in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $39.70.

Lincoln National Stock Up 0.0%

NYSE:LNC traded up $0.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $42.16. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,399,610 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,567,426. Lincoln National Corporation has a 1 year low of $27.58 and a 1 year high of $43.66. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $38.57 and a 200-day moving average of $35.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.99 billion, a PE ratio of 7.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

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

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. Lincoln National's dividend payout ratio is presently 31.41%.

Insider Activity at Lincoln National

In other Lincoln National news, EVP John Christopher Kennedy sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.29, for a total transaction of $196,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 123,815 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,864,691.35. This represents a 3.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.54% of the company's stock.

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.