Lincoln National (LNC) Competitors

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) and Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, media sentiment, earnings, profitability, valuation, risk, institutional ownership and dividends.

Which has more risk and volatility, LNC or BHF?

Lincoln National has a beta of 1.42, meaning that its share price is 42% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Brighthouse Financial has a beta of 0.88, meaning that its share price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has stronger earnings and valuation, LNC or BHF?

Lincoln National has higher revenue and earnings than Brighthouse Financial. Brighthouse Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Lincoln National, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lincoln National	$18.44B	0.44	$3.28B	$5.73	7.46
Brighthouse Financial	$4.72B	0.57	$388M	$9.24	5.06

Is LNC or BHF more profitable?

Brighthouse Financial has a net margin of 10.24% compared to Lincoln National's net margin of 6.34%. Brighthouse Financial's return on equity of 21.06% beat Lincoln National's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lincoln National	6.34%	19.14%	0.38%
Brighthouse Financial	10.24%	21.06%	0.47%

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of LNC or BHF?

72.8% of Lincoln National shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 81.2% of Brighthouse Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of Lincoln National shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.4% of Brighthouse Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Do analysts prefer LNC or BHF?

Lincoln National currently has a consensus price target of $39.70, suggesting a potential downside of 7.11%. Brighthouse Financial has a consensus price target of $59.67, suggesting a potential upside of 27.71%. Given Brighthouse Financial's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Brighthouse Financial is more favorable than Lincoln National.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lincoln National	1 Sell rating(s)	8 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
Brighthouse Financial	2 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.13

Does the media refer more to LNC or BHF?

In the previous week, Lincoln National had 5 more articles in the media than Brighthouse Financial. MarketBeat recorded 12 mentions for Lincoln National and 7 mentions for Brighthouse Financial. Brighthouse Financial's average media sentiment score of 1.55 beat Lincoln National's score of 1.36 indicating that Brighthouse Financial is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Lincoln National	10 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Brighthouse Financial	6 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Summary

Brighthouse Financial beats Lincoln National on 11 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.