Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) Shares Gap Up on Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Lincoln National's shares jumped from a closing price of $39.80 to an opening price of $41.32 after an upgrade from Morgan Stanley, changing their rating from equal weight to overweight.
• The company recently reported earnings of $2.36 per share for the last quarter, surpassing estimates, but revenue fell short of expectations at $4.04 billion.
• A quarterly dividend of $0.45 was declared, with a current annualized yield of 4.4%, scheduled for payout on November 3rd to stockholders of record on October 10th.

Shares of Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Friday after Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating. The stock had previously closed at $39.80, but opened at $41.32. Lincoln National shares last traded at $41.03, with a volume of 559,520 shares changing hands.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded 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 target price on shares of Lincoln National in a report on Monday, August 18th. Wolfe Research raised Lincoln National to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Lincoln National from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $39.45.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lincoln National news, EVP John Christopher Kennedy sold 5,000 shares of Lincoln National stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.29, for a total transaction of $196,450.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 123,815 shares in the company, valued at $4,864,691.35. The trade was a 3.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LNC. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its stake in Lincoln National by 61.0% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 250,751 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $8,678,000 after buying an additional 95,015 shares during the last quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln National in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $256,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in Lincoln National by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 125,845 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,354,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares during the last quarter. Cim Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Lincoln National by 99.6% during the 2nd quarter. Cim Investment Management Inc. now owns 33,292 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,104,000 after acquiring an additional 16,616 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC raised its position in Lincoln National by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 73,671 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,808,000 after purchasing an additional 3,003 shares during the last quarter. 72.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lincoln National Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $39.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.49. The company has a market capitalization of $7.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.19, a PEG ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.45. The business had revenue of $4.04 billion for 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 quarter last year, the business earned $1.87 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Lincoln National Corporation will post 7.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. Lincoln National's payout ratio 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.