Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Lowers Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) Price Target to $38.00

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) had its price target trimmed by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $40.00 to $38.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a market perform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on LNC. 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 research report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Lincoln National from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Evercore ISI upped their price target 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 raised their price objective on Lincoln National from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Lincoln National from $28.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. One investment 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, Lincoln National presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.91.

Lincoln National Trading Down 0.9 %

Lincoln National stock opened at $29.52 on Wednesday. Lincoln National has a 52 week low of $25.80 and a 52 week high of $39.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.03 billion, a PE ratio of 1.61, a PEG ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.56. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.08.

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

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Lincoln National’s payout ratio is 9.79%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lincoln National

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Stifel Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 13.5% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 239,091 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,534,000 after buying an additional 28,388 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Lincoln National by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,227,993 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $196,244,000 after purchasing an additional 79,955 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC bought a new position in Lincoln National in the 3rd quarter valued at $792,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Lincoln National in the third quarter worth $285,000. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln National during the third quarter worth $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.