Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Lincoln National Corporation has received an average consensus rating of "Hold" from ten brokerage firms, with one sell rating, eight holds, and one buy rating.
• The company's recent quarterly earnings topped analysts' expectations, reporting $2.36 earnings per share against a consensus estimate of $1.91, although revenue fell short of projections.
• A quarterly dividend of $0.45 has been announced, representing a 4.3% dividend yield, with the payment date set for November 3rd to investors of record by October 10th.

Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC - Get Free Report) has earned an average rating of "Hold" from the ten ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $39.70.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on LNC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped 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, August 4th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a "positive" rating on shares of Lincoln National in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Lincoln National to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Lincoln National from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln National

In related news, EVP John Christopher Kennedy sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.29, for a total value of $196,450.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 123,815 shares in the company, valued at $4,864,691.35. This represents a 3.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lincoln National

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 5,401 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $187,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 8,815 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $305,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming lifted its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 11,630 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $418,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 10,749 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $370,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MAI Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 13.7% in the 2nd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 2,616 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $91,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. 72.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lincoln National Stock Down 0.3%

LNC stock opened at $41.54 on Wednesday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $38.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.26. Lincoln National has a fifty-two week low of $27.58 and a fifty-two week high of $43.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.26. The company has a market cap of $7.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.48.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.65 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.87 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Lincoln National will post 7.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

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 issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. Lincoln National's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.

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