Analysts Set Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) Price Target at $28.45

Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Reduce" from the eleven research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $28.45.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on LNC shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Lincoln National from $29.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. StockNews.com upgraded Lincoln National from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Lincoln National from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group increased their target price on Lincoln National from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Lincoln National from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd.

Insider Activity at Lincoln National

In other news, Director Owen Ryan bought 10,000 shares of Lincoln National stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $25.90 per share, for a total transaction of $259,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 10,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $259,000. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Lincoln National by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,688,670 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $584,943,000 after purchasing an additional 1,094,789 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in Lincoln National by 2,107.9% in the third quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 4,279,462 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $105,703,000 after purchasing an additional 4,085,637 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its position in Lincoln National by 53.4% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 3,157,195 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $77,951,000 after purchasing an additional 1,098,532 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Lincoln National by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,127,550 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $57,383,000 after purchasing an additional 166,256 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Lincoln National by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,068,422 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $55,785,000 after purchasing an additional 107,769 shares during the period. 72.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lincoln National Price Performance

NYSE LNC traded down $0.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $27.81. The stock had a trading volume of 1,515,729 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,497,844. Lincoln National has a 52-week low of $18.50 and a 52-week high of $32.43. The company has a market cap of $4.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.57, a P/E/G ratio of 0.18 and a beta of 1.81. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.13. Lincoln National had a positive return on equity of 20.81% and a negative net margin of 6.46%. The firm had revenue of $1.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.44 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Lincoln National will post 6.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.47%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. Lincoln National's payout ratio is currently -36.07%.

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.