Wells Fargo & Company Lowers Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) Price Target to $31.00

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) had its price objective trimmed by Wells Fargo & Company from $36.00 to $31.00 in a research report report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on LNC. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Lincoln National from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. UBS Group increased their price target on Lincoln National from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Lincoln National from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $42.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $35.91.

Lincoln National Stock Performance

NYSE:LNC opened at $29.75 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $35.93 and its 200-day moving average is $34.09. Lincoln National has a 1-year low of $25.80 and a 1-year high of $39.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market cap of $5.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 1.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.56.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.04. Lincoln National had a net margin of 17.76% and a return on equity of 18.47%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Lincoln National will post 7.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.05%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.79%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lincoln National

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 13.5% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 239,091 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,534,000 after buying an additional 28,388 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,227,993 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $196,244,000 after purchasing an additional 79,955 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Lincoln National in the third quarter valued at $792,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Lincoln National during the 3rd quarter valued at about $285,000. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln National during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,291,000. 72.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.