Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC) Receives Average Recommendation of "Hold" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts have an average recommendation of "Hold" for Lincoln National Corporation, with one sell rating, eight hold ratings, and one buy rating.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share, yielding 4.4% annually, with an ex-dividend date of October 10th.
• Lincoln National reported a quarterly EPS of $2.36, surpassing estimates, despite revenue falling short at $4.04 billion.

Shares of Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC - Get Free Report) have received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the ten research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have given a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $39.70.

LNC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Lincoln National from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Barclays lifted their price target on Lincoln National from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a "positive" rating on shares of Lincoln National in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Lincoln National from $38.00 to $36.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Lincoln National from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Sean Woodroffe sold 43,622 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.78, for a total transaction of $1,429,929.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 154,102 shares in the company, valued at $5,051,463.56. The trade was a 22.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John Christopher Kennedy sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.29, for a total value of $196,450.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 123,815 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,864,691.35. The trade was a 3.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 ninety days. 0.51% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lincoln National

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hollencrest Capital Management lifted 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 last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Lincoln National during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln National in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln National in the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln National in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors own 72.81% of the company's stock.

Lincoln National Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LNC traded up $0.2450 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $40.8250. The company had a trading volume of 1,299,591 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,263,613. The company has a market capitalization of $7.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.12, a P/E/G ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.42. Lincoln National has a 1 year low of $27.58 and a 1 year high of $41.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $35.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.80.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. 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 previous year, the business earned $1.87 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Lincoln National will post 7.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors 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 yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. Lincoln National's payout ratio is presently 31.41%.

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.